1. CORE SECTOR (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy

Context: Output of eight key infrastructure sectors-known as the core sector-expanded to a five month high of 8.2 percent in June.

• This is due to a high base effect and positive growth in seven of the eight sectors.
• Data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed that while growth in the output of fertiliser (3.4 per cent) and cement (9.4 per cent) slowed than the previous month, that of coal (9.8 per cent), refinery products (4.6 per cent), steel (21.9 per cent), and electricity (3.3 per cent) accelerated in June.

Core Sector

• About: Core sectors of an economy are  the key industries in the economy.

• 8 Core Sectors of the Indian Economy: Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertiliser, Steel, Cement, Electricity.
• Weight in IIP: These eight industries have a combined share of above 40.27% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• Decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products (28.04) > Electricity (19.85) > Steel (17.92) > Coal (10.33) > Crude Oil (8.98) > Natural Gas (6.88) > Cement (5.37) > Fertilizers (2.63).
• Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI): The ICI is a production volume index prepared and released by the Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, GOI.
• It is released every month. 
• The index is calculated by using the Laspeyres formula of the weighted arithmetic mean of quantity relatives.
• The Laspeyres Index is calculated by working out the cost of a group of commodities at current prices, dividing this by the cost of the same group of commodities at base period prices, and then multiplying by 100.
• It measures the individual and collective performances of the production in these eight core industries.
• It is used by policymakers including the Ministry of Finance, other Ministries, and Departments.
• It is also used by banks for financing infrastructure projects and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

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2. WINDFALL TAX (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy

Context: The government has hiked windfall tax on petroleum crude to ?4,250 per tonne from ?1,600 with effect from August 1. 

• A windfall tax on diesel has been increased to 1 rupee per litre from nil earlier.
• The windfall tax on petrol and aviation turbine fuel has been left unchanged.

Windfall tax 

• About: Windfall taxes are designed to tax the profits a company derives from an external, sometimes unprecedented event -  for instance, the energy price-rise as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

• Governments typically levy a one-off tax retrospectively over and above the normal rates of tax on such profits, called windfall tax.

• These are profits that cannot be attributed to something the firm actively did, like an investment strategy or an expansion of business. 

• Definition: The United States Congressional Research Service (CRS) defines a windfall as an “unearned, unanticipated gain in income through no additional effort or expense”.

• Rationale: There have been varying rationales for governments worldwide to introduce windfall taxes, from redistribution of unexpected gains when high prices benefit producers at the expense of consumers, to funding social welfare schemes, and as a supplementary revenue stream for the government.

• Issues with imposing such taxes: Analysts say that companies are confident in investing in a sector if there is certainty and stability in a tax regime. 

• Since windfall taxes are imposed retrospectively and are often influenced by unexpected events, they can brew uncertainty in the market about future taxes.

• Another issue is who should be taxed- only the big companies responsible for the bulk of high-priced sales or smaller companies as well- raising the question of whether producers with revenues or profits below a certain threshold should be exempt.

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3. GREEN FUEL MANUFACTURING METHOD (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Infrastructure)

Context: Scientists devised a feasible method to produce molecular hydrogen from dehydrogenating simple feedstock chemicals like methanol and effectively transferred hydrogen to produce highly value-added chemicals and pharmaceuticals, with support from SERB, an attached institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Key Points

• They used commercially available ruthenium complex under mild conditions as a catalyst to generate hydrogen from methanol through a clean chemical dehydrogenation reaction and used the applicability of methanol as a potential transfer hydrogenation agent for the catalytic reduction of various functional compounds. 
• Methanol can act as a potential hydrogen carrier, which makes it very useful in synthetic organic chemistry since it is easier to store and transport than free hydrogen. 
• Thus, the developed strategy opens a new avenue in both fundamental research and industrial applications for making bulk and fine chemicals.
• Hydrogen is considered one of the cleanest sources of energy that can be easily obtained from indigestible biomass or bio-derived alcohols. 
• Various methods can generate hydrogen, but the cost of hydrogen depends on how environmentally friendly and energy efficient the production process is. 
• Water and methane are the main sources of hydrogen on Earth, but extracting pure hydrogen from them consumes a lot of energy through techniques such as natural gas reforming electrolysis, and water-splitting reactions.
• Notably, methanol can serve as a potential candidate for a hydrogen source owing to its gravimetric hydrogen content of 12.6% and its effective conversion to H2 and CO2 as final products. 
• Aqueous methanol can be considered as a potential source for the amplification of transfer hydrogenation and C1 chemistry.

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4. WORLD COFFEE CONFERENCE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Agriculture)

Context: : India will be hosting the World Coffee Conference for the first time, with its fifth edition promoted by the International Coffee Organization set to be held in Bengaluru on 25-28 September. 

• ICO is the primary intergovernmental organization dedicated to promoting coffee trade among coffee-producing nations.

Key Points

• WCC (2023) is being organised for the first time in Asia.
• Every four to five years, the International Coffee Organization holds a high-level World Coffee Conference to enable discussion around critical topics for the global coffee sector. 
• The first four Conferences took place in the United Kingdom (2001), Brazil (2005), Guatemala (2010), and Ethiopia (2016).
• The world coffee community will gather in Bangalore for four days of engaging debate at the 5th World Coffee Conference, hosted by the Government of India and in connection with the G20 under the country’s presidency.
• The 75 Member states of the International Coffee Organization (ICO) and top-level experts, including coffee growers and representatives from government, the private sector, development partners, as well as civil society and academia, will debate on coffee market trends, technology and best practices for building a circular coffee economy, regenerative agriculture, sustainability through consumption and access to finance.

Coffee Cultivation

• Second most important beverage of India after tea.
• Indigenous to Abyssinia Plateau (Ethiopia).
• It was brought to India by Baba Budan in the 17th century from Arabia and was raised in the Baba Budan Hills of Karnataka.
• British planters established large coffee estates near:
• Chikmagalur (Karnataka) in 1826.
• Manantody (Wayanad) and Shevoroys in 1830.
• Nilgiris in 1839.

• Coffee cultivation requires plenty of cheap and skilled labour for various operations including sowing, transplanting, pruning, plucking, drying, grading and packing of coffee.
• At present, more than 52,000 coffee gardens giving employment to 2.5 million persons exist in India.
• ‘Coffee Board of India’ was established through a constitutional act ‘Coffee Act VII of 1942’ under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• The Centre extended the RoDTEP (Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme to the coffee sector to boost exports. 
• Coffee Arabica (49% of the area) and Coffee Robusta (51% of the area) are the two main varieties of coffee grown in India.
• Karnataka is the largest producer (about 70% of total coffee production and 60% of the area under coffee in India).
• Brazil is  the largest coffee producer in the world .

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5. ROHINI COMMISSION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Social Justice)

Context: After almost six years and 14 extensions, the commission for sub-categorisation of OBCs submitted its report on the last day of its tenure, putting the ball in the court of the Modi government to decide if it wants to redefine the reservation structure for the backward classes erected by the Mandal Commission. 

• The commission was set up in October 2017, amid heightened expectations that the BJP government was eager to divide the OBCs into sub-groups and apportion the 27% central quota among them.
• The panel, headed by retired Justice G Rohini, was to initially submit its report in 12 weeks, but has since been given 14 extensions.

Rohini commission

• About: Constituted under article 340 of the Indian constitution to check on the issue of Sub Categorization within Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central List.

• Origin: The five-member commission, headed by Justice G. Rohini (retd), was constituted in October 2017 and was initially given 12 weeks to submit its report to the President of India.
• Union Government has extended the term of the Justice Rohini Commission until January 31, 2023, to submit its report on the Sub-Categorization of OBCs. This is the 13th extension in a row. 
• Objectives: It was appointed to examine the issues on sub-categorization of Other Backward Castes with reference to the following aspects:
• To study the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes listed in the broad category of OBC with reference to such classes included in the Central list.
• To devise the parameters, criteria, norms, and mechanisms in a scientific approach for sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes.
• To initiate the task of identifying respective classes, communities, sub-castes, or synonyms from the Central List of Other Backward Classes and categorizing them into respective sub-categories.

• Findings and Recommendations: The Commission has proposed a four-category formula for the equitable redistribution of the 27% quota for Other Backward Classes. 

• It has proposed a division of 2, 633 OBC castes in the Central list into four subcategories 1,2,3, and 4 to split the 27% OBC quota reservation.
• Category 1: Category 1 includes 1,674 groups, largely the most disadvantaged groups to receive 2% reservation.
• Category 2: consists of 534 caste groups with a 6% quota reservation
• Category 3: includes 328 caste groups and 9% reservation
• Category 4: comprises 97 caste groups with 10 % reservation
• The sub-categorization would ensure that though Category 4 receives the major share, that is, 10 percent of reservation, other categories will also be guaranteed a share.
• It also recommended complete digitisation of all OBC records and a standardised system of issuing OBC certificates.

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6. GENDER INCLUSION FUND (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Social Justice)

Context: National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 provides for setting up a Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF) especially for girls and transgender students to build the nation’s capacity to provide equitable quality education for all girls as well as transgender students,  information was given by the Minister of State for Education in the Lok Sabha.

Key Points

• The NEP focuses on ‘Equitable and Inclusive Education’ which reverberates the idea that no child should be left behind in terms of educational opportunity because of their background and socio-cultural identities. 
• It has taken into account the concerns of the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) which includes female and transgender individuals. 
• NEP prescribes to approach gender as a cross-cutting priority to achieve gender equality in education with the partnership of states and local community organizations.
• The objectives of NEP for equitable and quality education for girl children are being met through specific provisions under Samagra Shiksha 2.0 by allocating dedicated resources for Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs).
• Under Samagra Shiksha, various interventions have been targeted for providing quality education to girls, which include:
• Opening of schools in the neighbourhood to make access easier for girls,
• Free uniform and text-books to girls up to class VIII, 
• Additional teachers and residential quarters for teachers in remote/hilly areas, 
• Appointment of additional teachers including women teachers, 
• Stipend to CWSN girls from class I to class XII, separate toilets for girls, 
• Teachers' sensitization programmes to promote girls participation, 
• Gender-sensitive teaching-learning materials including text books etc.
• To reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), which are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC, Minority and Below Poverty Line (BPL), are sanctioned in Educationally Backward Blocks. 
• As on July 30, a total of 5639 KGBVs have been sanctioned in the country with the enrolment of 6.88 lakh girls. 
• The task of up-gradation of the KGBVs was started in the year 2018-19 and till the year 2022-23, a total of 357 KGBVs have been approved for up-gradation to Type-II (class 6-10) and 2010 KGBVs have been approved for up-gradation to Type-III (class 6-12).

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7. PLASTIC OVERSHOOT DAY (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Env & Eco)

Context: Nearly 68,642,999 tonnes of additional plastic waste will end up in nature this year, noted the 2023 Plastic Overshoot Day Report by Earth Action (EA).

• Plastic Overshoot Day is determined based on a country’s Mismanaged Waste Index (MWI).  

Key Points

• On July 28, 2023, the Earth saw its first Plastic Overshoot Day: The point at which the amount of plastics exceeds the global waste management capacity, according to Swiss-based research consultancy Earth Action (EA).
• This day, which is just four days ahead of Earth Overshoot Day on August 2, is a wake-up call to the world. 
• Plastic Overshoot Day sheds light on a critical aspect of the world’s plastic consumption: Short-life plastics, encompassing plastic packaging and single-use plastics. 
• These categories account for approximately 37 per cent of the total plastic commercialised annually. 
• India is among the 12 countries, along with China, Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Russia, Mexico, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Kazakhstan, which are responsible for 52 per cent of the world’s mismanaged plastic waste, it pointed out.
• Overshoot Day for India, or the date when the amount of plastic waste outweighed the country’s ability to manage it, was January 6 2023. 
• Three countries (followed by India) with the highest mismanaged waste - Mozambique (99.8 percent), Nigeria (99.44 percent) and Kenya (98.9 per cent) - belong to Africa.
• India ranks fourth in the MWI, with 98.55 per cent of generated waste being mismanaged and fares poorly in the management of plastics waste.

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8. TYPHOON DOKSURI (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Geography)

Context: More than 31,000 people from Beijing have been evacuated since July 30, 2023, as Typhoon Doksuri brought record rain to the Chinese capital over the weekend.

Key Pointsa

• Doksuri, China’s sixth typhoon of 2023, entered the eastern seaboard of China with a storm through coastal Fujian province on July 28, where it caused heavy flooding.
• Typhoon Doksuri, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Egay, was a powerful tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage in the Philippines, Taiwan, and China, in late-July 2023.

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9. TRANSLUNAR INJECTION (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context:  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed the TransLunar Injection (TLI) to slingshot Chandrayaan-3 towards the moon.

• The TLI was performed successfully from ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.

Key Points

• The Trans Lunar Injection manoeuvre is a vital space travel technique used to launch a spacecraft from Earth's orbit and place it on a track beyond the Moon.
• The TLI is performed when the spacecraft is at a specific point in its orbit known as the ‘perigee’ or the closest point to Earth. 
• By firing its engines at this strategic moment, the spacecraft gains enough speed to break free from Earth's gravitational pull and embark on its journey toward the moon.
• For translunar injection, Chandrayaan's speed should be more than Earth's escape velocity. 
• Earth's escape velocity is 40 thousand 270 kilometers per hour meaning that the Chandrayaan's speed should be more than this. 
• The engine is fired up when the Chandrayaan is at a distance of 236 km from the Earth. 

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10. NATIONAL MISSION ON LIBRARIES (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Art & Culture)

Context: Ministry of Culture through its National Mission on Libraries (NML) scheme provides financial assistance to state central library and district library in each State and Union Territory.

Key Points

• The National Mission on Libraries India, an initiative of the Ministry of Culture under the Government of India, works to modernise and digitally link nearly 9,000 libraries across India to provide readers access to books and information. 
• The National Knowledge Commission gave 10 recommendation on libraries in its 2011 report. Based on these recommendations Government of India started the National Mission on Libraries under the Indian Ministry of Culture.
• Mission has four working groups for its main advisory function. These are:
• Upgrade of existing public libraries, college libraries, school libraries, and shifting the use of school libraries as community libraries.
• Library and Information Science education, training and research facilities.
• Setting up the National Virtual Library, networking and ICT applications in libraries.
• National Census of Libraries, Content Creation and Community Information Centers.
• For development of Library Sector in the country, Ministry of Culture through its National Mission on Libraries (NML) Scheme, under ‘Setting up of NML Model Library’ component, provides financial assistance to 1 State Central Library and 1 District Library in each State and Union Territory, as per the recommendation of the State Authority concerned, and 6 libraries identified by Ministry of Culture, for modernization and infrastructure development.
• Besides, Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation (RRRLF), an Autonomous Body under Ministry of Culture, through its matching and non-matching schemes provides financial assistance to public Libraries for various purposes e.g. construction / renovation of library buildings, up-gradation of infrastructure with furniture and equipment, modernization, procurement of books and reading resources, organization of seminar, training and capacity building of library professionals, workshop, outreach programmes, establishment of children corner, opening of various sections, creating facilities for specially-abled, brail corner etc.

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