- Indian Heritage
- Culture
- Modern Indian history
- The Freedom Struggle
- Post-independence
- Indian Society
A. population and associated issues
B. poverty and developmental issues
C.urbanization
7. Geographical features
8.Indian Constitution
9. Polity
10. Governance
A. institutions
B. regulatory
Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA)
ICA has been established by the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs for capacity building and training in various subjects and matters relevant to corporate regulation and governance such as corporate and competition law, accounting and auditing issues, compliance management, corporate governance, business sustainability through environmental sensitivity and social responsibility, e-Governance and enforcement etc.
One of the Wings of IICA, the ICLS Academy, has the responsibility for conducting the Induction & Advanced Training for probationary Officers (POs) belonging to the Indian Corporate Law Service recruited through the Common Exam of Civil Services Examination conducted by UPSC.
The Institute has been designed with an eye on the future to provide a platform for dialogue, interaction and partnership between governments, corporate, investors, civil society, professionals, academicians and other stake holders in the emerging 21st century environment.
The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs is the apex think tank of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. The institute’s primary mission is to advance corporate governance excellence, promote responsible business conduct, and ensure the highest standards in the Indian corporate landscape. Among its key initiatives is Independent Director Databank & Certification initiative, a mandatory certification for individuals aspiring to serve on company boards in India. This initiative, along with several others, is designed to improve the quality of boardroom composition, discourse, and effectiveness in India.
C. Government policies
D. role of NGOs
E. measures
11. Social Justice
A. Welfare sche
B Health
C. Education
Kashi Tamil Sangamam
The stage is all set for Kashi Tamil Sangamam Phase 2 with the launch of its registration portal by IIT Madras on 27th November, 2023. The second edition of this Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme is proposed to be held from December 17th, the first day of the holy Tamil Margali month, to 30th December 2023. Like its first edition, this programme proposes to take forward the objective of reviving the living bonds between Varanasi and Tamil Nadu – two important centres of learning and culture in ancient India – by facilitating people to people connect across different walks of life.
In Phase 2 of KTS it is proposed that around 1400 people from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will travel by train to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya for an 8 day immersive tour, including the travel time. They will be divided into 7 groups of around 200 each, comprising students, teachers, farmers & artisans, traders& businessmen, religious, writers, professionals. Each group will be named after a sacred river (Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri)
The delegates will see places of historical, tourist and religious interest and interact with people of UP from their domains of work. KTS 2.0 would have a crisper format with emphasis on awareness generation & outreach, people to people connect and cultural immersion. The focus would be on increased engagement and interaction with local counterparts (weavers, artisans, artists, entrepreneurs, writers etc) to get insights into best practices, enhance learning and cross pollination of ideas.
The Ministry of Education will be the nodal Ministry for the programme with participation from Ministries of Culture including ASI , Railways including IRCTC, Tourism, Textiles, Food Processing (ODOP), MSME, I&B, SD&E, and concerned departments in Govt. of UP. To capitalise upon learnings from Phase I and given their reputation for research, IIT Madras will serve as the implementing agency in TN and BHU in UP.
Delegate itinerary will include 2 days onward journey – 2 days return; 2 days at Varanasi and 1 day each at Prayagraj and Ayodhya. Stalls exhibiting art and culture, handlooms, handicrafts, cuisine, and other special products of Tamil Nadu and Kashi will be set up, cultural programmes blending the cultures of Tamil Nadu and Kashi will be organized at Namo Ghat in Varanasi. During this period there will be academic exchanges – seminars, discussions, lectures, lec dems on various facets of knowledge like – literature, ancient texts, philosophy, spirituality, music, dance, drama, yoga, Ayurveda, handlooms, handicrafts as well as the modern innovations, trade exchanges, edutech and other gen next technology etc. Apart from experts and scholars, local practical practitioners from the above subjects / professions from Tamil Nadu and Varanasi will also participate in these exchanges so that a body of practical knowledge/ innovations can emerge from the mutual learning in different fields.
Dedicated awareness generation and outreach activities would be organised by IIT Madras in coordination with identified institutions in Tamil Nadu with workshops, seminars, meetings and other outreach campaign programs being conducted from 1st December to 31st December.
D. Human Resources
E. poverty and hunger
12. International relations
A. India and its neighbourhood
B. groupings and agreements
indian Ocean Tuna Commission -IOTC
The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is an intergovernmental organisation responsible for the management of tuna and tuna-like species in the Indian Ocean.
It works to achieve this by promoting cooperation among its Contracting Parties (Members) and Cooperating Non-Contracting Parties in order to ensure the conservation and appropriate utilisation of fish stocks and encouraging the sustainable development of fisheries.
4th edition of ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum (AIGIF) launched
ndia along with 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) were represented by 200 participants, at the 4th edition of the annual ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum (AIGIF) that was launched in Langkawi, Malaysia on 28th November 2023.
The AIGIF is an annual programme focused on fostering a strengthened relationship between India and AMS on the premise of cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). While on one side it aims to give exposure to social innovations in different countries, it also strengthens governance in the grassroots innovation ecosystem.
The annual program is a collaboration between the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI); Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India; National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India and the Science and Technology Ministry of the host nation, Malaysia’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in the year 2023. Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM) is an agency under MOSTI which is executing the AIGIF this year.
Mr YB Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Government of Malaysia launched the AIGIF 2023. He noted that year-on-year flagship programmes like AIGIF continue to serve as a dynamic platform for showcasing and promoting innovations that have the potential to significantly impact lives at the grassroots level.
He urged countries to continue their commitment towards social innovations and to collectively ensure that tomorrow is better than today for everyone. He further added that all participating nations should continue their commitment in supporting the cross-border mechanisms, information sharing of best practices and networking of ASEAN linkages to global and regional networks to improve their innovation and technology capability, entrepreneurs’ resilience, and sustainability.
ILO
The International Labor Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that labour peace is essential to prosperity. Today, the ILO helps advance the creation of decent work and the economic and working conditions that give working people and business people a stake in lasting peace, prosperity and progress.
The ILO was created in 1919, as part of the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, to reflect the belief that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it’s based on social justice. In 1946, the ILO became a specialized agency of the United Nations.Its unique tripartite structure gives an equal voice to workers, employers and governments providing a unique platform for promoting decent work for all women and men.
The ILO has four strategic objectives
– Promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work
– Create greater opportunities for women and men to decent employment and income
– Enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all, and
– Strengthen tripartism and social dialogue
In support of its goals, the ILO offers expertise and knowledge about the world of work, acquired over more than 90 years of responding to the needs of people everywhere for decent work, livelihoods and dignity. It serves its tripartite constituents -and society as a whole- in a variety of ways, including:
– Formulation of international policies and programmes to promote basic human rights, improve working and living conditions, and enhance employment opportunities
– Creation of international labour standards backed by a unique system to supervise their application
– An extensive programme of international technical cooperation formulated and implemented in an active partnership with constituents, to help countries put these policies into practice in an effective manner
– Training, education and research activities to help advance all of these efforts
C.Indian diaspora
13. Economic Development
A. Government Budgeting
Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and the World Bank
The Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, is hosting the APG Annual Typologies Workshop in association with Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) and the World Bank from 28th November to 1st December, 2023 in New Delhi.
Yearly typologies workshops are held by the APG to bring together experts and APG delegates to discuss money laundering and terrorist financing trends as well as policy issues emerging from those trends. These workshops have topical ‘themes’ to provide a focus for the discussion. Twenty-three typologies workshops have been held since the APG’s formation in 1997. After 2018, this is the first in-person workshop. A total of 26 jurisdictions are participating in the workshop.
The workshop began with a welcome address by Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Additional Secretary (Department of Revenue) and Head of the Indian Delegation to Financial Action Task Force (FATF), followed by adoption of yearly typologies report on money laundering (ML), terrorism financing (TF), and proliferation financing (PF) trends. The report features a focus section on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, in recognition of the threat they pose for ML, TF, and PF.
Further, the workshop is divided into three broad streams – Virtual Assets (VA), Illegal Phishing, and Tax Crimes. World Bank is delivering an ML/Tax Crimes Training Exercise and will cover various facets – ‘whole-of-government’ approach in taxing crime, various sources of information, beneficial ownership, tax crimes as predicate offence, international cooperation, organisation of evidence and typologies.
DFS Secretary chairs meeting on Cyber Security in Financial Services Sector and Online Financial Frauds
The meeting was also attended by Secretary, Telecom and senior officials of Department of Financial Services (DFS), Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Department of Revenue (DoR), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Telecom (DoT), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Indian Cyber Crime Co-ordination Center (I4C), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, Airtel Payment Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Google Pay India, PayTM, and Razorpay.
The Indian Cyber Crime Co-ordination Center (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, made a presentation on the latest statistics of digital payment frauds as reported in the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), various sources of these financial frauds, modus operandi adopted by the fraudsters, including challenges faced to counter financial cybercrimes. Further, representatives from State Bank of India (SBI) made a brief presentation on the Proactive Risk Monitoring (PRM) strategy implemented by SBI. Besides, PayTM and Razorpay representatives also shared their best practices which has enabled them to mitigate such frauds.
B. industrial
E.issues
14. Technology
15. Environment
Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas revokes Stage-III of GRAP in the entire NCR with immediate effect
Today, Delhi’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) clocked 312 as per the daily AQI Bulletin provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In view of significant improvement in the average air quality of Delhi-NCR, the Sub-Committee for operationalization of actions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR & Adjoining Areas (CAQM) met today to review the current air quality scenario in the region as well as the forecasts for meteorological conditions and air quality index made available by IMD/ IITM and also take an appropriate call on the stringent actions under Stage-III of GRAP already in place in the entire National Capital Region (NCR) since 02.11.2023. While comprehensively analyzing the overall air quality parameters of Delhi-NCR, the Sub-Committee observed that yesterday (i.e. 27.11.2023), Delhi’s average AQI clocked 395, which has been progressively improving since late evening of 27.11.2023. Further, the air quality forecasts by IMD/ IITM also do not indicate the average air quality of Delhi to move to ‘Severe’ category in the coming days for which forecast is available.
Therefore, keeping in view the disruptive nature of restrictions under Stage-III of GRAP impacting a large number of stakeholders and public as well as considering the significant improvement in the average AQI of Delhi-NCR, the Sub-Committee for operationalization of actions under GRAP unanimously decided to roll back Stage-III of revised GRAP in the entire NCR with immediate effect. Actions under Stages-I to Stage-II of GRAP shall however remain invoked and be implemented, intensified, monitored and reviewed by all agencies concerned in NCR to ensure that the AQI levels do not slip further to ‘Severe’ category.
The Sub-Committee in its earlier meetings had invoked actions under Stage-I, Stage-II, Stage-III and Stage-IV of GRAP on 06.10.2023, 21.10.2023, 02.11.2023 and 05.11.2023 respectively. Further, Sub-Committee in its review meeting held on 18.11.2023, revoked the actions under Stage-IV (‘Severe+’ Air Quality) of GRAP after considering the improvement in the average AQI of Delhi and air quality forecast of subsequent days. The Sub-Committee in today’s meeting reviewed the air quality scenario in the region as well as the IMD/ IITM forecasts for meteorological conditions and air quality index of Delhi and observed as under:
- The overall AQI of Delhi has improved from the levels of 395 recorded on 27.11.2023 at 4 PM and has been recorded as 312 at 4 PM today which is about 83 AQI points below the threshold for invoking the GRAP Stage-III actions (Delhi AQI 401-450) and preventive/ mitigative/ restrictive actions under all Stages up to Stage-III are underway. There is a likelihood of the overall AQI of Delhi remaining in ‘Very Poor’ category in the coming days for which forecast is available.
The Commission again urges all agencies responsible for implementation of various actions listed under Stages – I & II of GRAP and citizens/ residents to strictly implement and follow respectively, the provisions/ charter of GRAP under Stage-I and Stage-II to obviate the need for re-imposition of Stage-III of GRAP in NCR
16. Security
Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)
NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory being jointly developed by NASA and ISRO. NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data for understanding changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, ground water and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides. NISAR. It carries L and S dual band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which operates with Sweep SAR technique to achieve large swath with high resolution data. The SAR payloads mounted on Integrated Radar Instrument Structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus are together called an observatory. Jet Propulsion Laboratories and ISRO are realizing the observatory which shall not only meet the respective national needs but also will feed the science community with data encouraging studies related to surface deformation measurements through repeat-pass InSAR technique.
This flagship partnership would have major contributions from both agencies. NASA is responsible for providing the L-Band SAR payload system in which the ISRO supplied S-Band SAR payload and both these SAR systems will make use of a large size (about 12m diameter) common unfurl able reflector antenna . In addition, NASA would provide engineering payloads for the mission, including a Payload Data Subsystem, High-rate Science Downlink System, GPS receivers and a Solid State Recorder.
17. Disaster Management