MADE EASY

WEEKLY
CURRENT AFFAIRS

WEEK-3
15th November - 21st November

Targeted Examinations:
CSE, ESE, PSUs, State Exams,
SSC and Banking Exams
2 Week-3 15th Nov. to 21st Nov.

• In the past, Puerto Rico has had six referendums.

15th NOVEMBER 2020
At such referendums, voters were asked to choose
between secession, statehood or the commonwealth.
nCOP2 Vaccine 52% supported statehood in the 2020 referendum.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has added a
vaccine to its emergency listings. The added vaccine Washington demand:
is the nCOP2 developed by BioFarm of Indonesia. • Washington D.C. The notion that national capital
• The vaccine has been developed for the treatment of should not be part of any state was founded in
the derived poliovirus strain. 1776.
• The citizens of Washington were given the freedom
Key Highlights: to vote only in 1961, after the 23rd US constitutional
• This WHO approval is the first of its kind. According amendment. Much like Puerto Rico, Washington still
to the World Health Organisation, there have been has only one member of the House of Representatives
a total of 149 poliovirus-derived immunodeficiency who has no legislative rights.
vaccines since May 2020.
  NOTE:
• The vaccine was identified on the World Health
To Washington, D.C. And in order to gain statehood,
Organisation Emergency Use List.
all the chambers of the US Congress (Senate and
• The new Emergency Usage Listing System was
House) would need to approve the proposal.
established by the World Health Organisation in After that the President of the United States would
response to the Ebola virus epidemic that occurred authorise it.
between 2014 and 2016.
Tristan da Cunha
Puerto Rico • The isolated UK overseas territory of Tristan da
• For the seventh time in ten years, the United States Cunha was declared the largest fully protected
territory of Puerto Rico has voted in favour of Marine reserve of the Atlantic Ocean.
statehood. • This will prohibit sand extraction, bottom trawling
• It asks for equal treatment like the other 50 Nations of fishing and deep-sea mining in more than 90% of
the United States. waters of the territory.
• Joe Biden's Democratic Party has embraced the
principle of recognizing the two institutions as states. About Tristan da Cunha:
On the other hand, Trump was opposed to it. • It is a small chain of islands inhabited by less than
300 humans. It is located 6,000 miles from London in
Background: the South Atlantic Ocean.
• Puerto Rico is a Spanish-speaking island. It's smaller • The waters around the island are the richest in the
than the state of Tripura. Yet there's a population of world. It is home to tens of millions of seabirds, unique
31 lakhs. land birds.
• It's situated in the Caribbean Sea. The residents of • There are two endangered species and five
Puerto Rico were given citizenship in 1917. The island endangered species on the island. The island is also
was not, however, made a province. It continues to home to World Heritage sites such as Gough and
be the domain of the United States. Inaccessible Islands.
 15th Nov. to 21st Nov. Week-3 3

• The mission was initially expected to commence

16th NOVEMBER 2020
in July 2020. It was however, delayed due to a
COVID-19 pandemic.
Hanoi Declaration
• India was recently represented by the External Affairs   NOTE:
minister S Jaishankar at the East Asia Summit. The
Crew 1 is the first operating mission under NASA's
summit adopted the Hanoi Declaration.
Commercial Crew Program. Through the initiative,
NASA aims to transport crews to and from the
Key highlights:
International Space Station and the Low Earth
• The Minister expressed concern about the Orbit..
deterioration of trust in the South China Sea Area.
• The declaration of Hanoi reaffirmed the following
Lonar Lake and Sur Sarovar Lake
declarations of the East Asia Summit
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
 2005 Kuala Lumpur Declaration
Change has recently announced the addition of
 2010 Hanoi Declaration
Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and Sur Sarovar Lake in
 2011 Bali Declaration
Uttar Pradesh to the Ramsar sites.
 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration
• Lake Lonar is the only crater lake in the country. Sur
• The declaration highlighted the ASEAN-centric
Sarovar Lake is also called Keetham Lake.
regional architecture
• It stressed upon the effective implementation of Lonar Lake
Manila Plan of Action to advance the Phnom Penh
• It was created by an asteroid impact during the
Declaration (2018-2022). It focuses on the East Asia
Pleistocene Period. The crater is situated within the
Development Initiative.
Deccan Traps of the Deccan Plateau. It has 160 birds,
12 species of mammals and 46 reptiles. Two small
East Asia Summit
streams, Penganga and Purna, flow into Lonar Lake.
• The Summit is held between 18 members including
10 ASEAN countries. The other eight are India, China, Keetham Lake or Sur Sarovar Lake
Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, US and the
• More than 106 species of migratory birds are found in
Republic of Korea.
the lake of Sur Sarovar. The water of the lake is taken
from the Agra Canal. The canal originates from the
SpaceX Crew-1 Mission Okhla reservoir on the Yamuna River in Delhi.
• SpaceX has launched four astronauts into space
under Mission Crew 1. The Crew Dragon capsule is 17th NOVEMBER 2020
the first spacecraft to be certified by NASA after 40
years.
Japan - Australia Defence Pact
• As the first of a series, there will be regular SpaceX
• Japan and Australia are to sign the "Reciprocal Access
flights to the International Space Station.
Agreement" to fight China's increasing dominance in
the South China Sea and the Pacific Island.
Key Highlights:
• The security deal has taken six years to sign. This
• The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been used to launch
would push countries together in the wake of
the spacecraft and is reusable. SpaceX is expected
militarization in the South China Sea and a series of
to fly two more crewed flights in 2021.
tensions over islands in the East China Sea.
4 Week-3 15th Nov. to 21st Nov.

Key Highlights: DIPAM-World Bank Sign Agreement

• This is Japan's first agreement to authorise • DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset
international military presence in its sovereign Management) has concluded an agreement with the
territories since 1960. It concluded a Forces Status World Bank. Under the deal, the World Bank will offer
Agreement with the United States in 1960 and with consulting advice on the monetization of reserves.
Djibouti in 2009. • Asset Monetization creates additional streams of
• The agreement would pave the way for the renewal of income by unlocking public properties owned or
the Japan-US Forces Status Agreement. used.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) Inflation Key Highlights:

• The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) increased to 1.48 • DIPAM is planned to promote the monetization
per cent in October 2020. This has been the highest of non-core assets and enemy assets of Rs 100
in the last eight months. Crores. Plans are in motion to sell minority interests
in LIC.
Key Highlights: • DIPAM has a system for the monetization of
• The inflation rate based on the WPI Food Index fell properties. The World Bank Advisory Project will
from 6.92 per cent in September 2020 to 5.78 per evaluate the monetization of public assets in India,
cent in October 2020. WPI production rose to 2.12 benchmark its market and structural frameworks
against international best practises.
per cent in October 2020 compared to 1.61 per cent
in September 2020.
About Enemy Property
• According to RBI, the present inflation rate is
• During the wars between India and Pakistan in
unrelenting. The apex bank claims that recent
1965 and 1971, people relocated from India to
steps by the Government of India, such as the
Pakistan. Under the Protection of India Act, 1962,
implementation of stock limits on onion sellers, the
the Government of India took over the property
temporary reduction of import duty on pulse and the
of those citizens who had selected Pakistani
imposition of stock limits on imports of onions and
nationality.
potatoes, have not kept prices under control.
• They are the enemy's assets. They are under the
About Wholesale Price Index jurisdiction of the Government of India under the

• It focuses primarily on goods traded between Enemy Property Act.

companies. WPI's key goal is to track market
drifts. It helps to determine the microeconomic and
Enemy Property Act:
macroeconomic conditions of the economy. • In 2017, India amended the Enemy Property Act in
• India had the highest inflation rate of 34.68 per cent 1968. The amendment extended the term "enemy
in September 1974. subject" and "enemy firm."
• The WPI shall be published by the Ministry of Trade • Under the amendment, the Enemy Property will remain
and Industry. in the possession of the Government even though the
• The base year for the wholesale price index is 2011- enemy ceases to be an enemy due to death or other
12. It was 2004-2005 earlier. It has been revamped in purposes. In fact, the amendment denied the rights
2017. of the enemy's legitimate descendants.
 15th Nov. to 21st Nov. Week-3 5

Malabar Exercise • The deadline for the completion of the Bogor targets
• The second phase of Malabar Exercise was held in has been set as 2020. The Bogor goals were not
the Northern Arabian Sea. The first phase of Malabar aimed at individual countries. However it provided
exercise was held in Bay of Bengal. guidelines to Member States on the adoption of
bilateral, multilateral and unilateral policies.
Key Highlights: • The policies introduced were aligned with the
• The exercise is important since the four countries principles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and
together form the QUAD group. At the latest meeting Exchange (GATT) and also with those of the GATT
of the QUAD Group in October 2020, the countries successors.
agreed on a free and open Indo-Pacific zone.
• The Indian, Japanese, Australian and US Navy will About APEC:
engage in the second phase of the Malabar Exercise.
• APEC is an economic group founded in 1989. The key
This is the first time in the decade that the four
goal of its establishment was to encourage free trade
countries have engaged in such a large-scale naval
and sustainable growth in the Pacific Rim countries.
war-gaming activity.
It also seeks to improve the interdependence of Asia-
  NOTE: Pacific economies. Collectively, APEC accounts for
The Japan Maritime Self Defence Force is to join 50% of world trade and 57% of world GDP.
the exercise. The Royal Australian Navy is to be • The formation of the APEC was supported by the
represented by its frigate Ballarant. European Union and the now defunct North American
Free Trade Area (NAFTA).

18th NOVEMBER 2020

BRICS members adopted Counter
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Terrorism Strategy
• The members adopted counter terrorism strategy
(APEC) Ministerial Meeting
during the 12th BRICS Summit. The main objective of
• The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
members held a virtual ministerial meeting. the strategy is to deal with terrorism.

• During the meeting, representatives pledged to

promote free and fair markets and investment in order
Key Highlights:
to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. • The Counter-Terrorism Strategy is based on the
• He was chaired by Malaysia. This ministerial meeting will following principles.
take place in the run-up to the APEC Economic Leaders • Respect for the rights of participating countries
Meeting to be held on 20 November 2020. The Bogor • Commitment to international law
APEC priorities are one of its flagship programmes and
• Acknowledge the coordination position of the United
the deadline for the 2020 goals was set.
Nations
• Include the goals of Member States and national
Bogor Goals:
interests
• When APEC leaders met in Bogor, Indonesia, in
1994, they introduced long-term free and open trade • Adopting a holistic approach to the war against
and investment. terrorism
6 Week-3 15th Nov. to 21st Nov.

Brasilia Declaration: Team Halo

• The BRICS countries adopted the Brasilia Declaration • The United Nations unveiled "Crew Halo" along
at the 11th BRICS Summit in Brasilia. The declaration with the "Vaccine Trust Initiative" of the University
has condemned extremism in all its manifestations. of London. More than 100 scientists from various
According to the resolution, the two key pillars of
parts of the world have come together as part of the
extremism are philosophy and money.
initiative.
• The Brasilia Declaration reflects on the following key
• Team Halo seeks to counter misinformation on the
concerns such as money laundering and the fight
safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Under
against financial terrorism, reaffirming the value of
the programme, scientists will create social-media-
developing legislative systems.
friendly videos on the vaccine sciences of COVID-19
• The declaration affirms that the BRICS nations will
based on their personal knowledge.
not give credibility to any government that promotes
terrorism. China's compliance with this part of the
Food Coalition:
declaration is significant to India because of China's
• In November 2020, the United Nations initiated a
proximity to Pakistan.
new coalition to prevent the food crisis of COVID-19.
The coalition was proposed by Italy and is headed
Reserve Bank Innovation Hub
by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The
• Kris Gopalakrishnan was elected the first Chairman
of the Reserve Bank Innovation Centre. He has been partnership would seek to improve the resilience of
allocated to the Indian Reserve Bank. the agricultural food system.
• The aim of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub is to
foster innovation in the financial sector. Golden Card Visa by UAE
• The United Arab Emirates has recently accepted
Key Points: the issuance of a Golden Card Visa with several
• The RBI has set up a hub for fostering, encouraging modifications. The Visa has been in effect for
and hand-holding cross-thinking. The goal of the hub ten years. Visas are issued to professionals,
would be to expand the use of emerging technology scientists, engineers and PhD holders from those
in the financial sector. universities.

• The hub serves as a centre for the incubation and

About Golden Visa Card:
growth of new capabilities that can be leveraged to
build creative financial services and goods. • The visa also provides ten-year residence to
the applicants and their spouses. All qualified
Kris Gopalakrishnan Committee: visa holders, other than academics, are people
• It will be headed by the Board of Governors, which with advanced degrees in Artificial Intelligence,
will have nine other members. Members are IITs, Epidemiology and Big Data. Students who score at
IISc, Indian National Payment Firm, etc. The Board the top of the country (both at school and university
of Governors shall administer the Reserve Bank level) are also able to receive a visa.
Innovation Center.
 15th Nov. to 21st Nov. Week-3 7

• It deploys troops and police from around the world,

19th NOVEMBER 2020
integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to
address a range of mandates set by the UN Security
United Nations Peacekeeping (UNPK) Council (UNSC) and the General Assembly.
missions
• India, U.S. looking at training Southeast Asian nations Japan and Australia sign Defence Pact
in U.N. peacekeeping. • Japan and Australia signed the “Reciprocal Access
• With China significantly scaling up its troop Agreement” to counter the growing influence of
contribution for United Nations Peacekeeping (UNPK) China in the South China sea and in the Pacific Island
missions, India and the U.S. are looking to undertake Nations.
training of military personnel for the missions from • The defence agreement has taken six years of
Southeast Asian countries on the lines of the ongoing negotiations. This will bring the countries closer
initiative for African countries. amidst militarization in the South China sea and
series of disputes over islands in the East China sea.
India and the UN Peacekeeping:
• India has consistently been among the top troop About Reciprocal Access Agreement:
contributing nations to the UN and is the fifth largest • This is the first agreement of Japan to allow foreign
with 5,424 personnel in eight countries. military presence in its sovereign territory since 1960.
• India’s contribution to the regular budget is 0.83% It signed a Status of Forces Agreement with the US in
and 0.16% of the peacekeeping budget. 1960 and with Djibouti in 2009.
• India has so far participated in 51 of the 71 missions • The agreement will pave the way to renew Japan-US
and contributed over 2 lakh personnel. Status of Forces Agreement.
• It has troop deployment in Lebanon, Golan Heights,
Congo and South Sudan in addition to staff officers in India-Australia
other missions. • India and Australia signed the Mutual Logistics
• India has also set up two field hospitals in South Support Agreement in June 2020. It is similar to the
Sudan and one in Congo. Reciprocal Access Agreement being signed between
• Since 2018, India has co-opted a contingent from Japan and Australia.
Kazakhstan at the mission in Lebanon. • The agreement allowed reciprocal access to military
bases. Also, it allowed the militaries to use each
About United Nations Peacekeeping: other’s bases for replenishment of supplies and
• United Nations Peacekeeping was created in 1948. repair.
• United Nations Peacekeeping helps countries torn by • India has signed similar defence agreements with the
conflict create conditions for lasting peace. US, Singapore and France.
• Peacekeeping has proven to be one of the most
effective tools available to the UN to assist host countries Background
navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace. • The countries India, Japan, Australia and US are
• Peacekeeping has unique strengths, including working under QUAD grouping and through various
legitimacy, burden sharing, and an ability to deploy other means to achieve free and open Indo-Pacific.
and sustain troops and police from around the • In other words, they intend to reduce and counter the
globe, integrating them with civilian peacekeepers to influence of China in the region.
advance multidimensional mandates.
8 Week-3 15th Nov. to 21st Nov.

Cow Cabinet • According to the CDC website, arenaviruses such as

• The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh the Chapare virus are usually borne by rats and can be
Chouhan announced that the State Government is spread by direct contact with the infected rodent, its urine
to constitute ‘Cow Cabinet’ to conserve and promote and droplets, or by contact with the infected human.
cow cattle in the state. The first meeting of the cabinet
is to be held on November 22, 2020. The meeting is Ariel Space Mission
to be held at Gau Sanctuary Salaria Agar Malwa. • The European Space Agency (ESA) has formally
• According to the Anti-Cow Slaughter Act, 2004, adopted Ariel.
no one in the state is allowed to transport cattle in
the state. Special permission was required even to Key Highlights:
transport cattle through the state. • Ariel (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared
Exoplanet Large-survey) will be launched in 2029.
  NOTE: • It will perform a large-scale survey of over a thousand
• In 2005, the Supreme Court of India upheld the exoplanets over a period of four years.
constitutional validity of anti-cow slaughter laws • The explorer that will study the nature, formation and
enacted in different states of India. Around 20 evolution of exoplanets.
states in India currently have laws to regulate
cow slaughter (it includes cattle slaughter as About Exoplanets:
well). • All of the planets in our solar system orbit around the
• The states such as Assam, Kerala, Goa, Sun. Planets that orbit around other stars are called
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, exoplanets. Exoplanets are very hard to see directly
Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and West Bengal with telescopes. They are hidden by the bright glare
have no restrictions on cow slaughter. of the stars they orbit.
• However, some states allow slaughtering of bulls • So, astronomers use other ways to detect and study
and bullocks. They are Tamil Nadu, Andhra these distant planets. They search for exoplanets by
Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Odisha, Madhya looking at the effects these planets have on the stars
Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar. they orbit.

Chapare Virus: Human to Human First Convergence Project of India:

Transmission Renewable Energy
• The Energy Efficiency Services Limited signed a
• The researchers from the United States Centre for
Memorandum of Understanding with the Department
Disease Control and Prevention have discovered
of New and Renewable Energy, Goa.
that the Chapare Virus is capable of human to human
transmission. Key Points:
• Bolivia is reportedly battling an outbreak of the virus. • The project seeks to focus on energy technologies
Like the Ebola virus, the Chapare virus is capable of that have developed on the basis of ideas that
causing haemorrhagic fever. incorporate climate change, clean energy and
Key Points: artificial intelligence.
• The Chapare hemorrhagic fever (CHHF) is caused • The key objective of the project is to link sectors such
by the same Arenavirus family that is responsible for as LED lighting, solar energy and energy storage and
diseases such as Ebola virus disease (EVD). provide solutions that will allow decarbonisation.
 15th Nov. to 21st Nov. Week-3 9

About Convergence Projects: HIV Prevention Model of India

•
Convergence projects are those projects • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare addressed
where physical, social, structural and economic the Ministerial meeting of the Global Prevention
infrastructure is combined. It also requires a variety Coalition for HIV prevention.
of schemes to accomplish its aims. For eg, India's • During the conference, the Minister expressed the
Smart City mission is a convergence initiative. progress of India's HIV Prevention Model.

20th NOVEMBER 2020 Key Highlights:

• The minister stressed upon the following as India’s
Indian Cities selected by WEF for Smart actions under its HIV Prevention Model.
Cities • The HIV Prevention Model of India is centred around
• The World Economic Forum picked 36 cities from the concept of ‘Social Contracting”. The Targeted
22 countries to be the pioneers of the smart cities Interventions Programme is implemented under this
project road map. concept.

• These smart cities are being built under the Global • Test and Treat Policy was adopted.
Smart Cities Alliance of the G20. • Mission SAMPARK was launched. Under this, around
• Four of the 36 cities selected are Indian cities. The 50,000 people living with HIV who were lost to follow-
four selected Indian cities are Bengaluru, Faridabad, up were linked back to Anti-retroviral Treatment
Indore and Hyderabad. services.

• These 36 cities will implement five measures, • The Adolescence Education Programme is being
including greater internet coverage, protection of implemented in 23 states. It covers more than 49,000
privacy, accountability for cyber security, enhanced schools.
access to digital city facilities for the physically • HIV/AIDS (Prevention and Control) act, 2017 was
disabled and increased transparency of city data. passed.
• India has so far succeeded in reducing its HIV
G20 Global Smart City Alliance: infection mainly because of the National AIDS Control
• The Global Smart City Alliance of the G20 was set up Programme.
in June 2019 at the Osaka G20 Summit (held in 2019).
India has joined the coalition as a founding member. National AIDS Control Programme
• The key goal of the partnership is to accelerate best • It was introduced in 1992 in India to deter and
practise, to encourage greater transparency and to monitor AIDS. Four stages of the initiative have now
mitigate future risks and public confidence. been implemented. The Program is being introduced
by the National AIDS Control Organisation.
The Pioneers of Change Summit, 2020: • India is actively pursuing a National Strategic Plan
• The World Economic Forum will open the Pioneers of (2017-24) to eliminate AIDS by 2030.
Progress Summit between 16 November 2020 and
20 November 2020. Antiretroviral Treatment:
• The summit will concentrate on sustainable • AIDS treatment in India is given at the ART Centres.
development, digital business, wellness, technology, The number of these centres has been raised from
financial innovation, modern job models and frontier 54 to 91. ART medications are not used to treat AIDS.
technologies. The findings of the summit will be used However, it does help to suppress the HIV virus.
to frame the smart cities road map.
10 Week-3 15th Nov. to 21st Nov.

Belgaum border dispute

  NOTE:
• The Karnataka Chief Minister condemned the
According to the Godavarman case judgement of
comments made by Maharashtra Deputy Chief
Supreme Court in 1996, the State Governments
Minister over the border dispute between the two
should obtain permission from the Supreme Court
states.
for implementing changes to land that are classified
• The border dispute between the states of Maharashtra
as deemed forests.
and Karnataka is also called the “Belgaum border
dispute” or the Belagavi dispute.
Lakshmi Vilas Bank
Key Points: • The Reserve Bank of india Bank has recently placed
• Belgaum is now a part of Karnataka and earlier was a 30-day moratorium on Lakshmi Vilas Bank of India.
a part of Bombay Presidency of British India. During • The central bank has also drawn up a merger scheme
British rule, the Bombay Presidency encompassed for the bank. Under the plan, the Lakshmi Vilas Bank
Maharashtra, Gujarat and certain areas of North is to be amalgamated with the Singapore DBS Bank.
Karnataka.
• The Mahajan Committee was formed in 1966 by the Key Points:
Central Government with representatives from both • The Chennai-based bank had undergone a
the states. steady decline in the last three years. It has been
• Maharashtra is claiming all the 814 villages and the experiencing continuous withdrawal of deposits and
Belgaum city. Maharashtra invokes Article 131 (b) in very low levels of liquidity. The bank failed to raise
the Supreme Court to justify its claim. adequate capital to address its issues.
• According to Article 131 of the Constitution, the • Around one-fourth of the bank advances have turned
SC shall have original jurisdiction in any dispute into bad assets. Also, the non-performing assets
between the state governments or between the state of the bank were at 25.4% of its advances in the
governments and the Government of India. September quarter. The RBI has put a cap of Rs
25,000 on withdrawals from the bank.

Deemed Forests
  NOTE:
• The State Government of Karnataka recently
Moratorium is temporary suspension of financial
announced that it will soon declassify 6.64 lakh
activities until issues are resolved.
hectares of 9.94 hectares of deemed forests in the
state. This is around 67% of the deemed forest land.

Last White Giraffe of the world

About Deemed Forests:
• The world's only confirmed White Giraffe was mounted
• Deemed Forests are land areas that tend to be forest
with GPS tracking devices in North East Kenya.
but have not been recorded as forest in historical
• Giraffe is white in colour due to an unusual hereditary
documents or government records. disorder called leucism. Leukism is a lack of
• Deemed Forests are known to be 1% of forest land in pigmentation. The tracking unit will provide hourly
India. In 1996, the Supreme Court directed the States updates on the position of the Giraffe.
to recognise and classify deemed forests. States • The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of
have full freedom to describe the forest they consider Nature) has listed Giraffe in the 'Vulnerable' category.
According to IUCN, there are currently 68,293 giraffes
to be a deemed forest.
in the World.
 15th Nov. to 21st Nov. Week-3 11

Four Species of Giraffe  Strengthening capacities of support systems.

• Masai Giraffe: It lives in Tanzania and Kenya  Transition from the unorganized sector to the formal
sector.
• Reticulated Giraffe
 Special focus on women entrepreneurs and
• Southern Giraffe: It lives in Botswana Aspirational districts.
• Northern Giraffe: It lives in the north of Africa.  Focus on minor forest produce in Tribal Districts.

21st NOVEMBER 2020   NOTE:

India is the second largest producer of fruits and
PM-FME Scheme vegetables in the world after China.
• Recently, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries
launched the Capacity building Component of
the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food
Operation Calypso
processing Enterprises (PM-FME) Scheme. • Operation Calypso has recently been initiated by the
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). During the
• Under the capacity building component of the
mission, 504 grammes of cocaine were confiscated
scheme, the trainers are to be delivered with
and a transnational drug racket was dismantled.
classroom lecture and demonstration through online
mode.
About DRI:
• These trainers will in turn train the district level trainers
• The Directorate is run by the officers of the Central
who will ultimately train the beneficiaries. Currently,
Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.
the training is to be provided for fruits and vegetable
• It Is one of the major intelligence agencies of India.
processing.

About PM-FME Scheme: World Drug Report, 2020

• The report is prepared by the Office of the United
• The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro-Food
Nations on Drugs and Crime. According to the
Processing Enterprises (PM-FME) scheme was
study, India is one of the main centres of illegal drug
initiated under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and
trafficking.
introduced by the Ministry of Food Processing.
• Drug trade in India extends from ancient cannabis
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
to new products such as methamphetamine. Drug
• Scheme will be implemented over a 5 year period
trade is strong in India since India is situated in the
from 2020-21 to 2024-25. 2,00,000 micro-enterprises
centre of two of the world's largest opium-producing
are to be assisted with credit linked subsidies.
areas. They're the Golden Triangle and the Golden
• It aims to assist two lakh micro food processing units
Crescent.
to provide technical, financial and business support
• The Golden Triangle Is the area where the borders of
to upgrade the existing micro food processing
Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence
enterprises.
of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.
• Objectives:
• The Golden Crescent comprises Iran, Afghanistan
 Increase in access to finance by micro food
and Pakistan. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden
processing units.
Crescent, it has been one of the largest opium-
 Increase in revenues of target enterprises.
producing areas of the world since the 1950s.
 Enhanced compliance with food quality and safety
standards.
12 Week-3 15th Nov. to 21st Nov.

Drug policy in India TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix

• India's two main drug laws are the Prevention of • Recently, TRACE has published the Global Bribery
Illegal Trafficking of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Risk Matrix. India ranked 77 with a score of 45 on the
Substances Act, 1988 and the Narcotic Drugs and global ranking.
Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
• The NDPS Act makes it unlawful for an individual to Key Highlights:
produce, process, transport, buy, store or consume • India has performed better than China, Pakistan,
psychotropic substances or drugs. Bangladesh and Nepal. Bhutan was the only
neighbour to be ranked higher than India.
India-New Development Bank sign • Denmark has been the top of the chart, followed by
Agreement Norway, Finland, Sweden and New Zealand. The
lowest ranks were held by North Korea, Turkmenistan,
• India and the New Development Bank have
South Sudan, Venezuela and Eritrea.
concluded a USD 500 million deal.
• Under the deal, the New Development Bank is to lend
About The Ranking:
funds for the construction of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-
• The ranking is prepared by TRACE International.
Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System project.
It is the world leading anti-bribery standard setting
organisation.
Regional rapid transit system:
• The TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix, 2020 measured
• The Regional Rapid Transit System links the
bribery in 194 jurisdictions.
fastest-growing small towns in the National Capital
Region.
• The key goal of the project is to reduce reliance on
Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has
highways. It is being implemented by the National
initiated the "Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge." The
Capital Region Transport Corporation.
goal of the challenge is to ensure that no life of septic
tank or sewage cleaner is lost while cleaning.
Technologies used
• Ballastless tracks are to be used in Regional Rapid About the Challenge:
Transit Systems. The tracks are being used for the
• The results of the challenge are to be announced on
first time in India. They're easy to substitute.
the day of independence. The goal of the challenge
• These tracks offer outstanding riding experience at a is to encourage mechanised cleaning. The awards
speed of 180 kilometres per hour. for the participating cities are to be awarded in three
subcategories as follows.
About New Development Bank:  Cities with a population of more than 10 lakhs.
• The New Development Bank is commonly referred  Cities with a population of 3-10 lakhs.
to as the BRICS bank. The bank's headquarters are  Cities with a population of fewer than 3 lakhs.
situated in Shanghai, China.
  NOTE:
• The idea to set up the New Development Bank was
The Government of India has legislated The
made by India at the fourth BRICS summit held in
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers
New Delhi in 2012.
and Rehabilitation Act, 2013 to protect manual
• The shares of the bank shall be divided evenly among
sewer cleaners.
the shareholders.
 15th Nov. to 21st Nov. Week-3 13

Meghalaya Integrated Transport Wind-Solar Hybrid Park

Project • The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has
• India and the World Bank have signed an agreement proposed a new scheme to develop Wind-Solar
to modernise the transport system in the state of Hybrid Parks. The scheme aims to address the key
Meghalaya. issues faced by renewable energy projects.

• The project aims to boost the 300 km strategic

road segment through climate sensitive and natural
Key Features:
solutions. • The Wind-Solar Hybrid Park will be a concentrated
field of power projects. It will provide the region with
About Meghalaya Integrated Transport Project: the appropriate facilities.
• The project would allow Meghalaya to develop as • The National Wind Energy Institute shall choose the
a big hub for trade with border countries such as sites for the construction of wind-solar hybrid parks.
Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. • The capacity of each park is estimated to be 500
• The scheme will appeal to small-scale industries, MW or more. However, there are no limits on the
agriculture, tourism, health and education construction of smaller capacity parks. In the case of
centres. That would improve access to healthcare smaller capacity parks, the capacity of the park may
services. not be less than 50 MW.