1. NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP PROMOTION SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy)

Context: To bolster the participation of both industries and young individuals in apprenticeship training on a nationwide scale,, Union Minister for Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship launched Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). 

• An amount of approx Rs 15 crores was disbursed to one lakh apprentices by the Minister today marking the launch of DBT in NAPS.

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme 

• About: NAPS was launched in August 2016 by Government of India to promote the Apprenticeship in the country by providing financial incentives, technology and advocacy support.

• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

• Components: The scheme has the following two components:

• Sharing of 25% of prescribed stipend subject to a maximum of Rs. 1500/- per month per apprentice with the employers.

• Sharing of basic training cost up to a maximum of Rs. 7,500 per apprentice.

• Implementing Agencies: The Regional Directorates of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (RDESE) under Directorate General of Training (DGT) are the implementing agencies in their regions in respect of all “Designated Trades” under the Act for all establishments falling under the Central Government jurisdiction.

• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and CEOs of the Sector Skill Councils are the implementing agencies in their sectors in respect of “Optional Trades” for the establishment under the Central Government jurisdiction.

• Key Features:

• Wider option for the apprentices-integration with other schemes
• Ease of Administering through technology
• Involvement of States/UTs
• Promoter and Facilitators/Third Party Aggregators (TPA)

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2. PLI SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy)

Context: Even as the Union government looks to tweak the production linked-incentive (PLI) schemes for some sectors, it is expecting disbursals to likely increase to Rs 13,000 crore to eligible firms.

• The government had disbursed Rs 2,900 crore till March 2023 out of claims worth Rs 3,400 crore received so far. 
• The scheme was announced in 2021 for 14 sectors, including telecom, white goods, textiles, medical device manufacturing, automobiles, speciality steel, food products, solar PV modules and advanced chemistry cell batteries, with an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore.

Production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme

• About: The PLI scheme was conceived to scale up domestic manufacturing capability, accompanied by higher import substitution and employment generation.

• Allocation in Budget: The government has set aside Rs 1.97 lakh crore under the PLI schemes for various sectors and an additional allocation of Rs 19,500 crore was made towards PLI for solar PV modules in Budget 2022-23.

• Launch: Launched in March 2020, the scheme initially targeted three industries:

• Mobile and allied Component Manufacturing
• Electrical Component Manufacturing and
• Medical Devices

• Incentives Under the Scheme: calculated on the basis of incremental sales, range from as low as 1% for the electronics and technology products to as high as 20% for the manufacturing of critical key starting drugs and certain drug intermediaries.

• In some sectors such as advanced chemistry cell batteries, textile products and the drone industry, the incentive to be given will be calculated on the basis of sales, performance and local value addition done over the period of five years.

• Sectors for the which PLI Scheme has been Announced: So far, the government has announced PLI schemes for 14 sectors including automobile and auto components, electronics and IT hardware, telecom, pharmaceuticals, solar modules, metals and mining, textiles and apparel, white goods, drones, and advanced chemistry cell batteries.

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3. INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR PROJECTS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Infrastructure)

Context: Government of India is developing eleven (11) Industrial Corridor Projects as part of the National Industrial Corridor Programme across the country in a phased manner, information has been provided by the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry in the Rajya Sabha.

• As per the approved institutional and ?nancial structure for the industrial corridors, the Government of India, through National Industrial Corridor Development & Implementation Trust (NICDIT), provides funds as equity/debt for the development of world-class trunk infrastructure in the industrial nodes/regions under industrial corridors and the States are responsible for making available contiguous and encumbrance free land parcels.
• Out of the allocated funds up to 31.07.2023, DPIIT has sanctioned and released funds amounting to Rs. 9,899.89 crore for the Industrial Corridor Project, which has been utilized to the extent of Rs. 9,816.98 crore.

The corridors-wise status/proposed developmental activities of approved projects/ Nodes:

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4. DELIMITATION COMMISSION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity)

Context: The Election Commission published its final report on the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam, keeping their total numbers unchanged at 126 and 14 respectively. 

• In its final order, the poll panel has revised the nomenclature of one parliamentary and 19 assembly constituencies.

Delimitation Commission

• About: The Delimitation Commission is a high-level body set up by an act of the Parliament.

• Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country to represent changes in population.

• Constitutional Provisions: The delimitation commission is an independent body constituted under Article 82 after the Parliament enacted a Delimitation Act after every census.

• Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.

• Appointment: The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India. 

• Composition:

• A retired judge of the Supreme Court
• The Chief Election Commissioner
• State Election Commissioners (of the respective states)

• Decision: If the members of the Commission have differing opinions, then the decision of the majority will be taken into consideration.

• Duties: It shall be the duty of the Commission to readjust the representation of the several territorial constituencies in the House of the People and of the several territorial constituencies in the Legislative Assembly of each state on the basis of the latest census figures of population.

Key Facts

• The first delimitation exercise was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission) in 1950-51.
• The Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.
• Delimitation Commissions had been set up four times - 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
• There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses.

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5. REVAMP OF CRIMINAL LAWS (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Governance)

Context:  Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation introduced the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and Bharatiya Sakhshya Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha.

• Indian Penal Code, 1860 will be replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 will be replaced by the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023.

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6. TAMPARA LAKE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Env & Eco)

Context:  The National Green Tribunal, Eastern Zone, has directed the Odisha government not to go ahead with ‘illegal’ construction in and around Tampara Lake, a designated Ramsar site and one of the largest picturesque freshwater lakes of the State.

• The NGT has issued the order after hearing a petition filed by Wildlife Society of Orissa, an environmental pressure group, which alleged that the ongoing large-scale permanent construction work in Tampara Lake was illegal.

Key Points

• Tampara Lake supports at least 60 species of birds, 46 species of fishes, at least 48 species of phytoplanktons, and more than seven species of terrestrial plants and macrophytes. 

• There is a patch of forest with width of 2 km that separates Bay of Bengal from the lake.
• The wetland is an important habitat for vulnerable species such as Cyprinus carpio, common pochard (Aythya ferina), and river tern (Sterna aurantia). 
• Tampara is already placed in the Wetland Atlas prepared by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2010.
• All Ramsar sites are protected under Wetland Conservation Rules 2017. 

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7. ELEPHANTS IN INDIA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Env & Eco)

Context: The number of elephants in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have seen a slight increase, but have almost halved for Kerala, according to the recently released Elephant Population Estimates jointly conducted by the southern India states.

• Karnataka’s elephants increased from 6,049 in 2017 to 6,395 in 2023.

• In Tamil Nadu, there was a rise to 2,961 in 2023 from 2,761 in 2017.
• In Kerala, the population has dropped from 9,026 to 4,306 in the same period.

Status of Elephants in India

• India has about 27,000 Asian Elephants, which is the world’s largest population of the species.
• As per Elephant Census (2017), Karnataka has the highest number of elephants (6,049), followed by Assam (5,719) and Kerala (3,054)
• More than 60% of the world’s elephant population is in India.
• The elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India.

• India has the largest number of wild Asian Elephants, estimated at 29,964 according to 2017 census by Project Elephant, i.e., about 60% of the species’ global population.

• Conservation Status:

• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species:

• African Forest Elephant- Critically Endangered
• African Savanna Elephant- Endangered
• Asian Elephant- Endangered

• Convention of the Migratory species (CMS): Appendix I

• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

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8. MUGHAL GARDEN (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Indian Art & Heritage)

Context: Restoration work is underway at the tomb of Muhammad Quli Khan in Delhi's Mehrauli Archaeological Park ahead of the G20 Summit in September.

Key Points

• In the early 17th century, the tomb was constructed for the Muhammad Quli Khan; he was the brother of Adham Khan who was the son of Maham Anga-the wet nurse of Mughal emperor Akbar. 
• It was originally decorated with painted plaster. 
• Later, Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe, the Governor General of India (1835-53), converted it into a residence for his use during monsoon and converted the enclosure into a garden with terraces, watercourses and pavilions, it was called as “Dilkhusa” at that time.
• The tomb stands on a high platform which is octagonal in plan from outside and square plan from inside. 
• The enclosure in which the tomb stands was altered into a garden with terraces, water courses and pavilions, traces of which are still found. The interior is exquisitely ornamented with intricate and painted plasterwork. 
• The exterior has designs of stucco plaster and on the eastern facade, there are remains of glazed tiles in shade of blue, green and yellow.

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9. KOSI RIVER (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Geography)

Context: A flood-like situation in low-lying areas of north Bihar districts has forced hundreds of families to flee in search of safer locations. 

• With major rivers and their tributaries in spate, thousands are in fear of floodwater entering their houses.
• While the Koshi, Gandak, Bagmati, Mahananda, Ganga and Adhwara are flowing above the danger mark at several places, they are close to the safe limits in some other regions.
• In the Himalayan reaches, the course of these rivers is highly tortuous, but over the plains they display a strong meandering tendency and shift their courses frequently.

Kosi River

• River Kosi, also known as the ‘sorrow of Bihar’, has been notorious for frequently changing its course.

• The Kosi brings huge quantity of sediments from its upper reaches and deposits it in the plains.
• The course gets blocked, and consequently, the river changes its course.
• The Kosi is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, Nepal and India.
• It has its source in Tibet that includes the world's highest upland, it then drains a large part of Nepal before emerging onto the Gangetic plains.
• Its three major tributaries, the Sun Kosi, Arun and Tamur meet at one point just upstream of a 10 km gorge cut through the Himalayan foothills.
• The river crosses into northern Bihar, India where it branches into distributaries before joining the Ganges near Kursela in Katihar district.
• The Kosi carries the maximum amount of silt and sand after the Brahmaputra in India.

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10. PLACENTA-ON-A-CHIP (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context: To build a better model which mimics the human placental structure and functions, researchers have developed devices called placenta-on-a-chip (POC).

Key Points

• Current techniques for studying the placenta and its conditions are very few and consist of systems that do not resemble the human placenta. 

• Some of them involve time consuming traditional cell culture methods on tissue culture plates or the sacrifice of mice. 
• A bunch of devices mimicking the placenta at various stages of pregnancy can help in drug discovery, study of toxicity of chemicals like caffeine, and understanding the effects of conditions such as preeclampsia and diabetes mellitus during pregnancy.
• In pregnancy, the placenta shields the baby from harmful drugs and chemicals. But some can still cross this barrier and cause harm to the baby in the womb. 
• Thus, pregnant women are not given most medications and they continue to suffer. 
• Determining which medicines can be given during pregnancy that would not cross the placenta is a daunting task. 

• Animal studies (mostly on mice) don't provide definitive answers due to differences between human and mouse placentas. 

• As a result, the number of medicines declared safe for pregnant women is low and marking new medicines that come into the market as “pregnancy safe” is a challenge.

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