National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) was launched on 21 January 2015 with the aim of bringing together urban planning, economic growth and heritage conservation in an inclusive manner to preserve the heritage character of each Heritage City. The Scheme shall support development of core heritage infrastructure projects including revitalization of linked urban infrastructure for heritage assets such as monuments, Ghats, temples etc. along with reviving certain intangible assets. These initiatives shall include development of sanitation facilities, roads, public transportation & parking, citizen services, information kiosks et... Read More...
In the recent past, India has embarked upon a number of legislative and regulatory measures that are certain to create a positive impact on the investment climate prevailing in the country and capable of boosting the confidence of investors. Some key measures include: Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 The recent enactment of a comprehensive legislation relating to insolvency of corporates, firms and individuals has been a much awaited move. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) lays down a resolution process that is time bound and undertaken by professionals. It creates an institutional mechanism for insolve... Read More...
Aimed at reviving the crisis- ridden micro finance sector, a Reserve Bank of India Committee suggested that micro finance institutions (MFIs) be allowed to charge a maximum interest of 24 per cent on small loans which cannot exceed Rs. 25,000. The committee, headed by Reserve Bank's Central Board Director Y. H. Malegam, also pitched for creation of a separate category of non-banking financial companies (NBFC-MFI) for the micro finance sector. The panel also said small loans of up to Rs. 25,000 could be given to families having an income up to Rs. 50,000 per annum. On re... Read More...
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty governing the movements of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology from one country to another. It was adopted in 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force in 2003. What are Living modified organisms (LMOs)? The protocol defines a 'living modified organism' as any living organism that possesses a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology, and 'living organism' means any biological entity capable ... Read More...
The Government of India provides financial and technical assistance to the State/UT Governments for activities aimed at wildlife conservation through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme viz. ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’. The scheme has following three components: Support to Protected Areas (National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves). At present India has a network of 700 Protected Areas (103 National Parks, 528 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 65 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community Reserves) Protection of Wildlife Outside Protected Areas Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and h... Read More...
What is LIDAR? The government has adopted radars that sense utility lines beneath the ground using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. LiDAR uses a pulsed laser to measure distance. What is India doing? The government has made several policy interventions such as increased threshold for project approval, enhanced inter-ministerial coordination, exit policy and promoting innovative project implementation models like the Hybrid Annuity Model. In an effort to increase the pace of construction of roads, the government is using technologies such as radar and remote sensing for... Read More...
What is sagarmala project? The prime objective of the Sagarmala project is to promote port-led direct and indirect development and to provide infrastructure to transport goods to and from ports quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Therefore, the Sagarmala Project shall, inter alia, aim to develop access to new development regions with intermodal solutions and promotion of the optimum modal split, enhanced connectivity with main economic centres and beyond through expansion of rail, inland water, coastal and road services. Three objectives Supporting and enabling Port-led Development through appropriate policy an... Read More...
The primary highway grids in India are: The North-South Corridor stretches from Srinagar in J&K state to Kanyakumari – the southernmost tip of India. The length of this major road is 4000kms. The East-West Corridor connects Porbandar in Gujarat with Silchar in Assam and the total length of this road being 3300kms. (Wonder why they didn’t plan it till the boarder including Arunachal Pradesh!) The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is the highway network connecting the four metros in India – i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai an... Read More...
About Olive Ridley Turtle The Olive Ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemps Ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs. Though found in abundance, their numbers have been declining over the past few years, and the species is recognized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list. Turtle turnaround An initiative driven by fishing communities in Odisha has not only given... Read More...
List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions Country % CO2 emissions by country Emission per capita (t) in 2015 China 29.51% 7.7 United States Read More...
Launch Vehicle and Satellite Missions of ISRO: PSLV-C31/IRNSS-1E Mission: In this flight, the workhorse launch vehicle PSLV launched IRNSS-1E, the fifth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation. PSLV-C32/IRNSS-1F Mission: In this flight, which was its 34th, PSLV launched IRNSS-1F, the sixth satellite of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation. PSLV-C33/IRNSS-1G Mission: In this flight, PSLV launched the seventh and the last satellite IRNSS-1G of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite Sys... Read More...
What is a MPC? The Monetary Policy Committee would be entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy rate (repo rate) required to contain inflation within the specified target level. A Committee-based approach for determining the Monetary Policy will add lot of value and transparency to monetary policy decisions. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (RBI Act) has been amended by the Finance Act, 2016, to provide for a statutory and institutionalised framework for a Monetary Policy Committee, for maintaining price stability, while keeping in mind the objective of growth. The meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee shall be hel... Read More...
Space technology applications, derived through synergistic use of earth observation, communication & navigation satellites and complemented with ground-based observations, play a key role in harnessing the benefits of space technology for socio-economic development in the country and improving the quality of life of citizens. Satellite-based Earth Observation is a cost effective means of obtaining essential and reliable data on our Earth. Such data on natural resources have become an integral part of planning and implementation of action plans for managing land & water resources, developing urban & rural infrastructure, monitoring weather & climate, protecting env... Read More...
Digitisation of agriculture or e-agriculture is seen as an emerging field focused on enhancing agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. Digitisation interventions seek to achieve a triple bottom line: Increasing farm productivity and income sustainability. Helping farmers adapt to climate change. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible. Digitisation is integral to climate smart agriculture, a sector rapidly expanding. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support developmen... Read More...
Digitisation of agriculture or e-agriculture is seen as an emerging field focused on enhancing agricultural and rural development through improved information and communication processes. Digitisation interventions seek to achieve a triple bottom line: Increasing farm productivity and income sustainability. Helping farmers adapt to climate change. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible. Digitisation is integral to climate smart agriculture, a sector rapidly expanding. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support developmen... Read More...
Highlights of the Bill The Act provides maternity leave up to 12 weeks for all women. The Bill extends this period to 26 weeks. However, a woman with two or more children will be entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave. The Bill introduces maternity leave up to 12 weeks for a woman who adopts a child below the age of three months, and for commissioning mothers. The period of maternity leave will be calculated from the date the child is handed over to the adoptive or commissioning mother. ... Read More...
The ritual bickering between India and China has once again been brought to the fore, this time over the Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. This is symptomatic of the contradictions in the way India and China practice diplomacy. This accentuates the way each perceives the divergences in the other’s strategic thinking and how they respond to it. Not surprisingly, the first Strategic Dialogue between the two countries held recently aimed at forging an understanding over a variety of issues failed. To take the example of India’s application to list Masood Azhar under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, China h... Read More...
Agni – V Successfully Test-Fired: Agni-V, the Long Range Surface-to-Surface Ballistic Missile was successfully flight tested by DRDO. Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) ‘Tejas’: Indigenously developed LCA is an advanced technology, single seat, single engine, supersonic, light weight, all-weather, multi-role, air superiority fighter designed for air-to-air, air-to-ground and air-to-sea combat roles. ‘Tejas’ made its international debut with participation in the Bahrain International Air Show. Medium Altitude Long Endurance ... Read More...
Various Achievements of Ministry of Defence Speedy modernisation of the Armed Forces to meet present and emerging challenges, development of requisite capacities and infrastructure for making up critical deficiency of weapons and equipment and creating a robust defence set up in the country through the ‘Make in India’ initiative, were the salient achievements of the Ministry of Defence during 2016. The year also saw progress for the welfare of Ex-Servicemen as the much awaited One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme funds reaching the accounts of Ex-Servicemen and families. During the year as part of Defence Diplomacy, India engaged w... Read More...
What is SFB? The Small Finance Bank (SFB) is a private financial institution intended to further the objective of financial inclusion by primarily undertaking basic banking activities of acceptance of deposits and lending to un-served and underserved sections including small business units, small and marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities, but without any restriction in the area of operations, unlike Regional Rural Banks or Local Area Banks. Who are eligible to apply? Resident individuals/professionals with 10 years of experie... Read More...