1. CWMA (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Polity)

Context: The Karnataka government recently approached the Supreme Court, requesting the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to review its decision made on September 18, which mandated a flow of 5,000 cusecs of river water to Tamil Nadu until September 29.

Cauvery Water  Management Authority CWMA

• It has been created as per the Cauvery Management Scheme earlier framed by the Centre and approved by the Supreme Court.
• Formation: February 2018 by instructions of the Supreme Court
• Composition: Chairman, a secretary and eight members.
• Out of the eight members, two will be full time, while two will be part-time members from the center’s side.
• Rest four will be part-time members from the states.
• Functions: To ensure the enforcement and adherence to the directives of the Supreme Court concerning the "storage, allocation, management, and oversight of Cauvery waters."

o It will also offer guidance to the states on implementing measures to enhance the efficiency of water utilization.

Cauvery

• About: It is the largest river in the Karnatka state.
• Known as:  Dakshina Ganga (the Ganges of the South) and considered one of the sacred rivers of India.
• Origin: Bramahagiri Hills near Madikeri in Coorg.
• Tributaries: Harangi, Hemavathi, Lakshmanatirtha, Kabini, Shimsha, Arkavati, Suvarnavathi or Honnuholé,  Bhavani, Lokapavani, Noyyal.

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2. IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – International Relations)

Context: Iran's President recently said that his country will never give up its right to have peaceful nuclear energy and urged the United States to demonstrate in a verifiable fashion that it wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran Nuclear Agreement

• About: It is a landmark accord reached between Iran and several world powers, including the United States, in July 2015, effective from 2016. 
• Also known as: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
• Agreement: Iran agreed to dismantle much of its nuclear program and open its facilities to more extensive international inspections in exchange for billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions relief.

o It also agreed to implement a protocol that would allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to access its nuclear sites to ensure Iran would not be able to develop nuclear weapons in secret.

• Brokered by: 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and Germany—collectively known as the P5+1. The European Union also took part.
• Withdrawal of USA: Former President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018. 
• Significance of JCPOA for India: Energy security, Regional connectivity, Peaceful environment etc.

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3. SUDAN CONFLICT (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - International Relations)

Context: More than 1,200 children under the age of five died in Sudan from suspected measles and malnutrition in nine camps in White Nile State recently, according to United Nations agencies.

Sudan

• About: It is a country in Northeast Africa and is Africa's third-largest country by area and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. 
• Capital: Khartoum.
• Border: Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south, and the Red Sea. 

Sudan Conflict

• 2019 Coup: Former Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, an ex-army officer, came to power in a military coup.

o Transitional Government: Initially, the military refused to give up power. But as popular protests continued, they agreed to take part in a transitional government made up of both civilian forces and army officers. The transitional government was supposed to remain in charge until democratic elections could be held in 2023.

• 2021 Coup: There were growing divisions within both the civilian and military sides, as well as increased competition between them. In 2021, the military element of the civilian-military coalition seized full control of the country.

o In 2021, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, took control of the government in a military coup.

o The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo has worked alongside the Sudanese army to help keep the military in power.

• Recent Crisis between SAF and RSF: The SAF leader Burhan is more inclined towards a transition to civilian rule under international pressure while RSF leader opposed this. Moreover, Burhan wants the RSF to come under a unified command of the SAF.

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4. ADB REPORT (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently revised India's growth forecast for FY24 to 6.3 per cent, a change of 10 basis points, attributing it to erratic monsoon patterns that are likely to affect agricultural output.

Key Points of ADB Report

• India's economic growth is anticipated to be bolstered by robust private consumption and increases in both public and private investment.
• The inflation forecast for India in FY24 has been adjusted to 5.5 percent, an increase from the earlier projection of 5 percent. 
• Adverse weather conditions led to a surge in food inflation in July, which in turn contributed to an escalation in the overall inflation rate across South Asia.
• According to the report, the prolonged drought in private capital expenditure is displaying indications of revival, as fresh projects are emerging in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Odisha, spanning a range of sectors such as textiles, steel, and power.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• Formation: 1966.
• Objective: It envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
• Headquarters: Manila, Philippines.
• Members: 68 members including India, China and Pakistan.

o The bank admits the members of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE), and nonregional developed countries.

• Largest capital contribution and voting rights: Japan and the United States (have equal and largest)>China>India>Australia.

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5. VANADIUM (Syllabus: GS Paper 1– Geography)

Context: Vanadium, a critical raw material for many industrial applications, has been found recently in sediment samples collected from the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat.

Vanadium

• About: It is a critical raw material for strategic sectors such as defence and aerospace.
• It is harder than most metals and exhibits good corrosion resistance against alkalis and acids.
• Occurrence: Various minerals, coal, and petroleum, vanadium is the 22nd most abundant element in Earth’s crust. 

o It is found in over 60 different minerals, including vanadinite, carnotite, roscoelite, and patronite.

• Largest Resources of Vanadium: South Africa and Russia.
• Traces in minerals like: Vanadinite, carnotite, roscoelite, and patronite, are known to contain this element.
• Traces in India: Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, and Maharashtra
• Used For: Making critical electronic components, vanadium redox flow batteries.

Gulf of Khambhat

• Location: South of the Gulf of Kutch
• Major East-Flowing Rivers: Narmada and Tapti 
• Earlier known as: Gulf of Cambay
• There are some coral reefs around small inlets in the western part of the Gulf.

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6. IMEC (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – IR)

Context: The US President and Israel's PM have recently welcomed the announcement of the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor (IMEC) on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi.

India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

• About: The IMEC is being envisioned as a network of transport corridors, including railway lines and sea lanes, that is expected to aid economic growth through integration between Asia, the Arabian Gulf, and Europe.
• Aim: The arrangement will include a railway route that, upon completion, will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to supplement existing maritime and road transport routes. 
• Part of: The project is a part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII).

o PGII is a collaborative effort by Group of Seven (G7) to fund infrastructure projects in developing nations based on the trust principles of the Blue Dot Network. 

• Countries involved: India, USA, Saudi Arabia, UAE, European Union, Italy, France and Germany.

I2U2 Group

• About: It is a new strategic partnership, It is also referred to as the West Asian Quad/Middle East Quad/New Quad.
• Countries involved: India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States
• Aim: To enhance cooperation and collaboration in various areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security.
• Objective of this Group: To promote economic development, scientific innovation, and regional stability. 

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7. ONE WEEK ONE LAB CAMPAIGN (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context: CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) has recently accomplished its One Week One Lab (OWOL) Programme. During a week-long time period, NIScPR conducted a series of events focused on different angles of Institute’s objectives and mandate.

One Week One Lab Campaign

• Conducted by: CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR).
• It will highlight: India’s global excellence in technology, innovation and Start-ups.
• Objectives: CSIR’s 37 constituent laboratories, spread nationwide, will showcase their legacy, exclusive innovations and technological breakthroughs every successive week.

o During the campaign each CSIR lab shall be organizing week-long events including industry & start-up meet, students connect, society connect, display of technologies, etc.

o The campaign will focus on academia and skill development, where interested students from varying domains get to know about the research activities and facilities of the CSIR laboratories and get a connection with prospects.

o Industries & MSMEs Meets are targeted to establish an understanding between Science and Industry based on the requirement of the society or regional needs and to identify potential industries for co-development of Next Gen technologies and products.

• Aim: To create networks of Govt- Academia-Industry for faster deliveries and deployments of technologies.

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8. EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Geogrpahy)

Context:  Using the data from the Helium, Oxygen, Proton, and Electron (HOPE) Mass Spectrometer and Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) instrument onboard the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) spacecraft, scientists conducted a statistical study of 22 substorm events for the period of 2018. They investigated the significant characteristics of magnetic field depolarization.

Key Points

• Magnetospheric substorm: It is a short-lived process that depends on the magnitude and direction of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF), solar wind velocity, and on the solar wind dynamic pressure.
• Substorm or brief disturbances in the Earth's magnetosphere and the resultant magnetic field depolarization (reconfiguration of the local magnetic field from stretched tail like to quasi-dipole like) increases heavy ion flux in the inner magnetosphere, providing windows for understanding the change and improving the accuracy of space weather forecasting in the future.

Magnetosphere:

• About: A magnetosphere is that area of space, around a planet, that is controlled by the planet's magnetic field.
• Earth’s magnetosphere: The shape of the Earth's magnetosphere is the direct result of being blasted by solar wind. The solar wind compresses its sunward side to a distance of only 6 to 10 times the radius of the Earth. A supersonic shock wave is created sunward of Earth called the Bow Shock.

Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) spacecraft: The Van Allen Probes, formerly known as the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), were two robotic spacecraft that were used to study the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth. NASA conducted the Van Allen Probes mission as part of the Living With a Star program.

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9. CHILD EDUCATION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Social Justice)

Context: Slow progress on achieving the target of education for all set by the United Nations (UN), coupled with socio-economic pressures in many parts of the world, has widened the global educational gap in the last two years, according to UNESCO.

Key Points

• There are now 250 million children not enrolled in school, up by six million since 2021.
• Ensuring quality education for all is the fourth of the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals.
• A new child has to join school every two seconds from now to achieve the 2030 targets of this goal.
• This progress has to be supported by “58 million additional children, adolescents, and youth in school, and at least 1.7 million more primary school teachers trained to provide quality education”, to attain SDG 4.
• Four out of five countries have set a goal to advance teacher training and professional development

Right to Education (RTE) in India

• The Constitution (86th Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine.
• The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards.
• Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010.

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10. PTP-NER SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Govt. Policies & Interventions) )

Context: Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) under Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, would be launching the phase 2 of the ‘Promotion of Tribal Products for North East Region’ (PTP-NER 2.0) scheme, from 21st September to10th November, 2023.

• In this phase, 29 districts with as many teams of TRIFED, North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation (NEHHDC) - Union Ministry of DoNER, and State Administration teams will travel the North East Region, to once again reach out to tribal artisans and showcase their cultural richness and heritage not only to the Nation but world over.

PTP-NER scheme

• About: Ministry of Tribal Affairs have launched Marketing and Logistics Development for the Promotion of Tribal Products from the North-Eastern Region (PTP-NER) for improving the lives of the talented artisans belonging to the Northeast.
• Type: Central Sector Scheme
• Aim: To strengthen livelihood opportunities for tribal artisans through increased efficiency in procurement, logistics, and marketing of tribal products from North Eastern States
• States Covered: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, and Sikkim
• Nodal Agency: Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation (TRIFED)
• Key Features: Facilitates backwards and forward linkages through incubation support, aggregation, skill and entrepreneurship development, sourcing and procurement, marketing, transportation, and publicity
• Tribal Artisans Melas (TAMs): Central government to organize TAMs in April and May to showcase tribal products. The empanelment of tribal artisans will be done directly or through Tribal Artisan Melas (TAMs).
• Partners: North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation (NEHHDC), India Post and North Eastern State Government Departments/ Agencies.

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