Operation Karuna

India has launched Operation Karuna, a mission aimed at providing assistance to Myanmar following the devastation caused by Cyclone Mocha.

Key Highlights:

• In a display of swift action and solidarity, three Indian Navy ships loaded with crucial relief material reached Yangon, Myanmar.
• They carried emergency food items, tents, essential medicines, water pumps, potable generators, clothes, and sanitary and hygiene items.
• Operation Karuna showcases the enduring bond between India and Myanmar during times of crisis and demonstrates India’s commitment to alleviating the suffering of the affected population.

'75/25' Initiative

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has unveiled the "75/25" initiative, aiming to revolutionise the management and prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India.

Key Highlights:

• This ambitious programme sets a target of providing standard care to all patients suffering from hypertension and diabetes by 2025.
• The "75/25" initiative places NCDs at the forefront of India’s healthcare agenda and aims to improve the overall well-being of millions of individuals.
• To effectively implement the "75/25" initiative, the government is planning to train 40,000 primary health care medical officers through the Shashakt Portal.

Article 239AA of Constitution of India

The recent Supreme Court ruling that interpreted Article 239AA which is related to
Delhi Government, has been nullified by an ordinance promulgated by the President of India.

About Article 239AA

• Article 239AA of the Constitution holds significant importance in defining the special status and governance structure of Delhi Government.
• Article 239AA was inserted into the Constitution by the 69 th Amendment Act in 1991. It conferred special status on Delhi, following the recommendations of the S. Balakrishnan Committee.
• According to Article 239AA, the Legislative Assembly of Delhi has the power to make laws on the matters related to State List or Concurrent List, excluding police, public order, and land.

‘Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi’ Scheme

The Union Ministry for Women and Child Development has launched a programme ‘Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi’, which aims to make Anganwadi centres as nutrition hubs as well as education-imparting centres.

Key Highlights:

• The programme will focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) at Anganwadis across the country. 

• The ministry has allocated Rs 600 crore for the training of Anganwadi workers to implement the ECCE. 

• The National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) will provide training for Anganwadi workers. 

• NIPCCD is an autonomous organization under the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development.

G-7 Hiroshima Summit

The Group of Seven (G7) countries met in Hiroshima, Japan for the annual summit on May 19-21, 2023.

Key Highlights:

• Due to the recent banking turmoil in the US and Europe, the leaders committed to maintaining financial stability and the resilience of the global financial system.
• G7 countries will accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA).
• The Group of Seven (G7) composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Syria rejoined Arab League

Recently, foreign ministers from Arab League member states have agreed to reinstate Syria’s membership after its suspension more than 10 years ago.

Key Highlights:

• The Arab League is an intergovernmental organization of Arab states in the Middle East and Africa. It was formed in 1945 following the adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944.

• Its objective is to draw closer the relations between member states and, to safeguard their independence and sovereignty of the Arab countries.

• The league currently has 22 members which includes countries like Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, and Palestinian Authority among others.

• The observer countries are Brazil, Eritrea, India, Armenia, and Venezuela. Observer states have been invited to participate during Arab League sessions, but do not hold voting privileges.

EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act

Recently, members of the European Parliament have reached a preliminary deal on a
new draft of the European Union’s ambitious Artificial Intelligence Act.

Key Highlights:

• The EU’s AI Act aims to bring transparency, trust, and accountability to AI and create a framework to mitigate risks to the safety, health, fundamental rights, and democratic values of the EU.
• The act defines AI as software that is developed with one or more of the techniques that can for a given set of human-defined objectives, generate outputs such as content, predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing the environments they interact with.
• The Act prohibits using AI technologies in the unacceptable risk category. These include the use of real-time facial and biometric identification systems in public spaces; systems of social scoring of citizens by governments; subliminal techniques to distort a person’s behaviour and technologies which can exploit vulnerabilities of the young or elderly.
• The Act also envisages establishing an EU-wide database of high-risk AI systems and setting parameters so that future technologies or those under development can be included if they meet the high-risk criteria.

Ajay Banga: 14th President of the World Bank

Recently, the Executive Directors of the World Bank selected Ajay Banga as President of the World Bank for a five-year term beginning June 2, 2023.

Key highlights:

• Ajay Banga is the first-ever Indian-American and Sikh-American to head either of the two top international financial institutions the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• Banga received the Padma Shri award in 2016, India’s third-highest civilian award.
• The nomination of Ajay Banga for this post was made by US President Joe Biden in February.
• Previously, he was President and CEO of Mastercard, a global organization.
• He was the Honorary Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce, serving as Chairman from 2020-2022.

Exercise Jal Rahat

The Indian Army’s Gajraj Corps, in collaboration with various disaster management
groups, recently conducted a joint flood relief drill called ‘Exercise Jal Rahat’ in Assam.

Key Highlights:

• The drill took place at Hagrama Bridge on the Manas River in Assam, aiming toenhance flood relief preparedness ahead of the monsoon season.
• The exercise emphasised coordination among multiple agencies and focused onefficient rescue operations and the utilisation of innovative strategies.
• An exercise like Jal Rahat provides an opportunity for agencies to synchronise theirefforts, share best practises, and address any gaps in coordination.

Samudra Shakti Exercise 2023

India and Indonesia recently conducted a bilateral naval exercise, Samudra Shakti-23.

Key Highlights:

• The primary purpose of the Samudra Shakti exercise is to enhance interoperability and mutual cooperation between the naval forces of India and Indonesia.

• The indigenously built anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kavaratti, Dornier Maritime Patrol aircraft, and Chetak helicopter took part in this exercise from the Indian side.

• This bilateral exercise signifies the commitment of both India and Indonesia towards maritime security and cooperation in the region.

Accidental Firing of Missile on Pakistan

• Recently India acknowledged that “technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a missile”.

• It was speculated that it was a test of one of India’s top missiles, BrahMos. 

What are the Provisions for Testing Missiles? 

• Under the pre-notification of flight testing of ballistic missiles agreement signed in 2005, each country must provide the other an advance notification on the flight test it intends to take for any land or sea-launched, surface-to-surface ballistic missile. 

• Before the test, the country must issue Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) or Navigational Warning (NAVAREA) to alert aviation pilots and seafarers, respectively.

• Also, the testing country must ensure that the launch site is not within 40 km, and the planned impact area is not within 75 km of either the International Boundary (IB) or the Line of Control (LoC). 

What is Brahmos Missile? 

• It is an Indo-Russian joint venture, has a range of 290 km and is the fastest cruise missile in the world

• BrahMos is named on the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.

• It operates on the "Fire and Forgets" principle i.e it does not require further guidance after launch.

•  It can be fired from anywhere, is nuclear-capable, and can carry warheads of 200-300 kg.

INS Visakhapatnam formally dedicated to city of destiny

• Recently, the India-made stealth guided-missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam was formally affiliated to the Visakhapatnam port.

• This marks the formal induction of the first of the four ‘Visakhapatnam’ class destroyers.

• The ship is on her maiden visit to the port city for participating in the MILAN-2022.

• ‘The warship has Dolphin’s Nose and ‘Krishna jinka’, the State animal, as its emblem.

• The ship symbolises India's matured shipbuilding capability and quest for the Make in India initiative towards achieving 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'.

• INS Visakhapatnam is the lead ship of P15B class of guided-missile stealth destroyers and was commissioned on November 21 last year.

• Under the P-15B (Visakhapatnam Class), a total of four warships were planned (Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal, Surat) to be inducted.

• These ships are amongst the most technologically advanced Guided Missile Destroyers of the world,

• It is also equipped to be deployed to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.

• These ships are also equipped with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and long-range Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM).

India’s First Underwater Train 

• India’s first underwater train in Kolkata is all set to be fully completed by 2023. 

• This is a one-of-a-kind underwater metro train that is built in India and is being compared to Eurostar which joins London and Paris.

• The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) has made a way to pass under the Hooghly River. 

• The East and West corridor will be connected via this twin tunnel over 500 meters. 

• The train will be 13 meters below the Hooghly River.

• As per reports, the train will run at a depth equal to a 10-story structure while underwater. 

• The tunnel will be built with 1.4 m-wide concrete rings, which will be part of the metro station. 

• The tunnel will have hydrophilic gaskets to prevent water from entering the tunnels.  

• According to the reports, the project has been completed at the cost of roughly INR 8600 crore.

• The project is likely to become operational by March 2023.

India’s first Liquid Mirror Telescope

India has set up its first-ever International 'liquid mirror telescope' (ILMT) in Uttrakhand.

It became the world’s first liquid-mirror telescope to be commissioned for astronomy.

The telescope has been set up at an altitude of 2450 meters at Devasthal Observatory campus of Aryabhatta Research Institute in Uttarakhand. 

The telescope is owned and operated by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Science (ARIES).  

Countries involved 

• The major instrumentation funding was jointly provided by Canada and Belgium while India will be responsible for the operations and upkeep of the telescope.

• Joint Collaboration of countries- India, Belgium, Canada, Poland and Uzbekistan.

Different from Conventional telescope

ILMT comprises mirrors with a reflective liquid (ILMT has mercury as reflective liquid). On the other hand, a conventional telescope uses highly-polished glass mirrors.

A LMT is a stationary telescope whereas a conventional telescope moves along the direction of the object of interest in the sky.

ILMT will be capturing images of the sky on all nights, conventional telescopes observe specific objects in the sky for fixed hours only.

Significance

Enormous amount of data (10-15 GB/night) will be generated. This will be significant for the global scientific communities.

Latest computational tools, like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and big data analytics will be deployed for screening, processing and analyzing the data.

World’s Fastest Supercomputer- FRONTIER

• “Frontier”, a supercomputer built by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has become the fastest supercomputer in the world.

• It has outperformed “Fugaku” built by Japan.

 About “Frontier” supercomputer

• It has reached the Linmark benchmark score of 1.1 exaflops, making it the world’s first supercomputer to break the exascale speed barrier.

• Fugaku, now at the second position, has a Linmark benchmark score of 442 petaflops.

• 1 exaflop is equivalent to 1,000 petaflops(Peta Floating-Point Operations per Second)

• Frontier is also ranked number one as the world’s most energy-efficient supercomputer, on the Green500 list.

Technology used in “Frontier”

• Frontier is equipped with advanced micro devices (AMD).

• It has 8,730,112 total cores and is built on the latest HPE Cray EX235a architecture.

• Fugaku, the second most powerful supercomputer, has 7,630,848 cores. 

India’s Supercomputers

• Two of India’s Supercomputers are in the top 100 in the Top500 list of fastest supercomputers in the world.

• Pratyush and PARAM -Siddhi are two supercomputers of India in top 100.

Dual-mode locomotive – NAVDOOT

After e-bikes, e-cars, and e-buses, the country's dream of having an e-train is coming true. Navdoot is a battery-operated dual-mode locomotive built by West Central Railway.

Navdoot is currently being used on a trial basis during train shunting at Jabalpur, Mudwara, and other stations. After clearing all the trials, it will be used more widely.

Function and Capacity

·  The engine runs on both modes i.e. battery and electricity.

·  The e-engine can pull 18 coaches at a speed of 30 kmph. 

·  It has 84 batteries and has a capacity to pull 400 tonnes at present. 

·  Railways will save 1000 liters of diesel every day with this new locomotive. 

This Dual Mode Locomotive has also received the Best Innovation Award from the Railway Board.

West Central Railway: It is one of the 18 zones of the Indian Railways, which provides rail route coverage to the west-central region of the country. WCR serves eastern & central Madhya Pradesh, southern Uttar Pradesh, and northeastern Rajasthan.

Petersburg Climate Dialogue

The Petersburg Dialogue on Climate Change was recently held in Berlin, Germany. It was hosted by Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

Key Highlights:

• The Petersburg Climate Dialogue is an annual high-level political and international forum held before the United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COP).

• It was initiated in 2010, following the nearly unsuccessful negotiations at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15).

• The conference included topics such as climate adaptation, climate finance and dealing with loss and damage, but in particular the first-ever global stocktake

• 2023 is the year for the Global Stocktake, which is essentially a periodic review of global climate action which aims to assess whether current efforts will enable us to reach the objectives set out in the Paris Agreement, 2015.

Country’s first 2G Ethanol Plant

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated India’s first “second generation (2G)” Ethanol plant in Panipat, Haryana.

• The plant is based on state-of-the-art indigenous technology and is built at an estimated cost of over Rs 900 crore by IOCL and is located close to the Panipat Refinery.

• The plant can utilize two lakh tonnes of rice straw annually to produce about 30 million liters of ethanol annually.

• It will produce 100 kilolitre ethanol per day, after processing 750-tonne paddy straw in a day.

• This plant would provide employment to around 250 people directly and to 1000 people indirectly.

• The plant is based on ‘Enfinity’ technology developed by private firm Praj Industries Limited.

• Through the reduction in the burning of rice straw (parali), the project will contribute to a reduction of Greenhouse Gases equivalent to about 3 lakh tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent emissions per annum, which can be understood as equivalent to replacing nearly 63,000 cars annually on the country’s roads.

• The first generation (1G) ethanol is manufactured from feedstock such as cereals, sugarcane juice and molasses as raw materials while Second Generation (2G) feed stocks include agri-residues like rice & wheat straw, cane trash, corn cobs & stover, cotton stalk, bagasse, Empty Fruit bunches (EFB), etc.

Cyclone ASANI 

• Cyclone Asani is expected to grow into a 'severe cyclone' over the Southeast portions of the Bay of Bengal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

• The name Cyclone Asani has been given by Sri Lanka that means ‘wrath’ in Sinhalese.

• The IMD classifies cyclones on the basis of the Maximum Sustained Surface Wind Speed (MSW) they generate.

• The IMD provides cyclone and storm surge advisories to 13 countries across the north Indian Ocean.

Occurrence of cyclones in INDIA:

• The cyclone season in India occurs twice a year, from March to May and October to December. 

• Cyclones under rare circumstances, strike between June and September.

Tropical cyclones, are powerful circular storms that form over warm tropical oceans and are marked by low air pressure, strong winds, and heavy rain.

There are six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) worldwide and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres, which are mandated for issuing advisories and naming of cyclonic storms.

IMD is one of the RSMCs and is tasked with giving a title to a cyclone that forms over the northern Indian Ocean.

High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People 

• India has joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30×30 targets. 

Key facts: 

• The High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People was initiated at the “One Planet Summit” in Paris in January 2021. The coalition aims to promote an international agreement to protect at least 30 % of the world's land and ocean by 2030 (30×30 targets). 

• The 30×30 target is a global target that aims to halt the accelerating loss of species and protect vital ecosystems that are the source of our economic security. 

• HAC is co-chaired by Costa Rica and France, and by the United Kingdom as Ocean co-chair. 

• Members: At present, the group has more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30×30. The members of HAC currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south. These include European, Latin American, Africa and Asia countries are among the members. 

• India is the first BRICS country to join the HAC. 

NOTE: The HAC coalition aims to promote an international agreement in order to protect at least 30 percent of the world's land and ocean by 2030. 

Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is gradually challenging the dominance of Zomato and Swiggy by offering users cheaper prices for the same food items.

Key Highlights:

• Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. 

• ONDC is to be based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.

• It is a non-profit initiative of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce.

• Currently, grocery and food items merchants are mostly part of it, but beauty, fashion, personal care products, and electronics, among others, are gradually joining in.

Report on Currency & Finance 2022-23

Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Department of Economic and Policy Research (DEPR) has released a report titled “Report on Currency & Finance 2022-23”.

Key Highlights:

• The theme of the report is ‘Towards a Greener Cleaner India’.
• India aims to achieve the net zero target by 2070. But this would require an accelerated reduction in the energy intensity of GDP by around 5% annually and a significant improvement in its energy mix in favour of renewables to around 80% by 2070-71.
• The cumulative total expenditure for adapting to this climate change in India is estimated to be Rs 85.6 lakh crore (at 2011-12 prices) by the year 2030.
• The financial sector faces the dual challenge of recalibrating its operations and business strategies to support the green transition process while also strengthening resilience to rising vulnerability to adverse climate events so as to safeguard financial stability.
• On the first challenge, estimates suggest that the green financing requirement in India could be at least 2.5% of GDP annually to address the infrastructure gap caused by climate events.
• On the second challenge, the results of a climate stress-test reveal that public sector banks may be more vulnerable than private sector banks in India.

Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII)

• G7 countries recently launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII).
• The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) was unveiled in Elmau, Germany during the G7 Summit.

About PGII

• This is an ambitious plan unveiled by US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders to mobilize USD 600 billion in funding by 2027 to deliver transparent and game-changing infrastructure projects in developing countries like India.
• The US aims to mobilize $200 billion for PGII over the next 5 years through grants, Federal financing, and leveraging private sector investments.

What’s there for India?

• U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) will invest up to USD 30 million in Omnivore Agritech and Climate Sustainability Fund.
• The Fund seeks to invest in companies that increase food security and promote both climate resilience and climate adaptation in India, as well as improve the profitability and agricultural productivity of smallholder farms. 

Status of global infrastructure

• Internationally, infrastructure has long been underfunded, with over $40 trillion in estimated need in the developing world.
• Many low- and middle-income countries lack adequate access to high-quality financing that meets their long-term infrastructure investment needs.

How will the fund be provided?

• Grants
• Federal Funds
• Private Investments

How will the initiative benefit?

The initiative will be geared towards:

• Tackling climate change
• Improving global health
• Achieving gender equity
• Building digital infrastructure.]

About G7 countries

• The G7 is an informal forum of leading industrialized nations as per IMF, which include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. 
• Representatives of the European Union are always present at the annual meeting of the heads of state and government of the G7. 
• The G7, originally G8 (along with Russia), was set up in 1975 as an informal forum bringing together the leaders of the world’s leading industrial nations.
• After annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, Russia was excluded from the grouping.

World Bank’s REWARD Project

• The World Bank, the Government of India, the State Governments of Karnataka, and Odisha, have signed a USD 115 million deal for the Rejuvenating Watersheds for Agricultural Resilience through Innovative Development (REWARD) Programme. 

• It aims to help national and state governments adopt improved watershed management practices to help farmers become more resilient to climate change, improve incomes, and promote higher productivity.

• The objectives of the Project are to improve water and land conservations as well as prevent soil run-off, harvest rainwater, regenerate natural vegetation, and replenish the groundwater table.

• This project Is a joint initiative of the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development in association with the World Bank.

• It is planned as a six-year project and is one of the largest water management programs around the world.

Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur

Recently, N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Group, was conferred with the
Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur award for his remarkable contributions to strengthening
the trade relationship between India and France.

Key Highlights:

• The Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur is France’s highest civilian honour and recognises outstanding achievements and expertise in various fields.
• The Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. The prestigious order bears the motto "Honneur et Patrie" (Honour and Fatherland).
• The list of distinguished Indians who have been honoured with the award includes JRD Tata, Satyajit Ray, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Zubin Mehta, E Sreedharan, Amitabh Bachchan, Lata Mangeshkar, and Shah Rukh Khan, among others.

India’s Medals at Commonwealth games

• So far, Indian athletes have won 9 medals, 3 gold, 3 silvers and 3 bronze, at the Commonwealth Games 2022. 
• The Commonwealth Games 2022 are to be held between July 29 to August 8  Birmingham, England.

 Gold Medals

• Star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu claimed India’s first gold medal.
• Jeremy Lalrinnunga maintained country’s dominance in the weightlifting arena when he claimed the second gold medal.
• While Weightlifter Achinta Sheuli clinched India’s third gold in the Commonwealth Games.

Silver Medals

• Weightlifter Bindyarani Devi clinched a silver in the women’s 55kg.
• Sanket Sargar, the Indian weightlifter opened the country’s medal count at the Commonwealth Games by claiming a silver in the men’s 55kg category.
• Judoku Shushila won Silver in Judo, women’s 48 kg class.

Bronze Medals

• P. Gururaja clinched Bronze in the Men’s 61 kg weight category.
• Vijay Kumar Yadav won Bronze in Judo, men’s 60kg class.
• India’s Harjinder Kaur claimed the bronze medal in the women’s 71kg weightlifting competition.

About Commonwealth Games

• The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. 
•  The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, have successively run every four years since.
• The Commonwealth of Nations  is a political association of 56 member nations, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. 

First Indian to win International Booker Prize

About the novel

Indian author Geetanjali Shree has won the International Booker Prize 2022. She has won this prize for her novel “Tomb of Sand”.

The novel titled “Tomb of sand” was first published in Hindi in 2018 titled “Ret Samadhi” which was then translated into English and released in 2022.

This is the first book written in an Indian language to have won the award.

Other Indians winning Booker Prize

• Geetanjali Shree is the first Indian to win the International Booker prize.

• However Indian authors and authors of Indian origin like Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy and Arvind Adiga have won the Booker Prize.

About International Booker Prize

• The International Booker Prize was initially known as Man Booker International Prize and was formed in 2005. 

• Between 2005 and 2015, the award was given every two years, since 2016 it has been given annually for a single book, translated into English. 

• The winner gets 50,000 pounds and recognition which also translates into sales.

Difference between Booker Prize and International Booker Prize

• International Booker Prize is given to an author for their work written in an international language, then translated into English.​​​​​​​

• Booker Prize which was started in 1969 is awarded to a book/novel written in English every year.

New Chief Election Commissioner 

• Former Union Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar has been appointed as the new Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

• He will oversee the 2024 national polls as well as the assembly elections in some states during his tenure including Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, etc.

Election Commission of India 

• Election commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority which administers elections to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and offices of the President and Vice President in the country.

• It is constituted under Article 324 of the Indian constitution. 

• It consists of three members- One Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.

• The office term is 6 years or until they attain 65 years, whichever happens first.

Ken-Betwa River Interlinking Project- Schemes and Policies 

• The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the funding and implementation of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project at a cost of ₹44,605 crores.

• It will be the first major centrally-driven river interlinking project in the country.

• The Ken-Betwa Link Project lies in Bundelkhand, a drought-prone region, which spreads across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

• The project involves transferring of water from the Ken river to the Betwa river through the construction of the Daudhan dam and a canal linking the two rivers.

• The project is expected to provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectares, drinking water supply to about 62 lakh people and also generate 103 MW of hydropower.

Ken is one of the major rivers in the Bundelkhand region of Central India. It flows through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Betwa river rises in the Vindhya range. It flows northeast through Madhya Pradesh and Orchha to Uttar Pradesh. 

Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021

• The Government of India notifies Copyright (Amendment) Rules,2021. The amendment has been made to bring the existing Copyright rules in the country with parity with the other relevant legislation.

Key Highlights:

• In India, the copyright regime is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013.

• The Copyright Rules, 2013 were last amended in the year 2016.

• The objective of the amendments is to bring the existing rules in parity with other relevant legislations.

• Publication of a copyrights journal has been incorporated eliminating the requirement of publication in the Official Gazette.

• The journal would be available at the website of the Copyright Office.

• In order to encourage accountability and transparency, new provisions have been introduced to deal with the undistributed royalty amounts and the use of electronic and traceable payment methods while collecting and distributing royalties.

About Copyright:

• Copyright is intellectual property. It gives the owner the exclusive right to make copies of his or her creative work. It can be education, artistic, literary, or music.

• According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, Copyright protects two types of rights. They are Economic rights and moral rights.

ULPIN: Unique Land Parcel Identification Number 

• The Centre plans to issue a 14-digit identification number to every plot of land in the country within a year’s time.

• The Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme has been launched in 10 States in the year 2021 and will be rolled out across the country by March 2022.

Key Points:

• It will subsequently integrate its land records database with revenue court records and bank records, as well as Aadhaar numbers on a voluntary basis.

• The scheme will enhance the service deliveries to the citizens of the country and will also function as inputs to the schemes of the other sectors like Agriculture, Finance, Disaster Management etc.

• The ULPIN is described as “Aadhaar for land”. The number will be used to identify every surveyed parcel of land.

• The ULPIN is a fourteen-digit Alpha Numeric ID.

• The identification number is to be launched based on the latitude and longitude coordinates of the land parcel.

Smart Anganwadis 

• The Government of Kerala has sanctioned ₹9 crore for the conversion of conventional anganwadis into “smart” anganwadis with better amenities.

• The smart anganwadis will be built in order to provide early childhood care in a phased manner.

• These facilities will be established with the aim of making it more child-friendly. This way these facilities will help to nurture mental and physical development of children. 

• Anganwadi scheme is a type of rural child care centre that was started in the year 1975 by the Indian government. This scheme runs under the Integrated Child Development Services program.  It seeks to combat child hunger and malnutrition.