1. NATIONAL ROZGAR MELA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Employment)

Context:  The Prime Minister addressed the National Rozgar Mela and distributed more than 70,000 appointment letters to newly inducted recruits in various Government departments and organizations. 

Rozgar Mela

• About: It is an initiative of the central government to provide employment opportunities to the youth of the country.
• Objectives: Under the Rozgar Mela Scheme, 10 lakh jobs will be available for candidates to apply in Group A and B Gazetted Posts, Group B Non-Gazetted and Group C Non-Gazetted posts.
• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will also fill a significant number of posts in various Central Armed Police Forces.
• Recruiting agencies: These recruitments are being done in mission mode by ministries and departments either by themselves or through various recruiting agencies such as UPSC, SSC, Railway Recruitment Board etc. 

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2. DISTRICT MINERAL FOUNDATION TRUST (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Infrastructure)

Context: There was a delay of 17-50 months in identifying areas and people affected by mining in Chhattisgarh, an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found.

• The CAG report found several irregularities in the working of the trust, including the delays in projects and underutilisation of funds.
• The delay was calculated from the time the DMFT was first established in 2015 to March 2021.

District Mineral Foundation Trust  (DMFT) 

• DMFT was setup by the Chhattisgarh government in 2015 as a nonprofit in all districts of Chhattisgarh to work for the interest and benefit of people and areas affected by mining operations. 
• It is funded through the contribution from miners. 
• They derive their legal status from section 9B of mines and minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 2015. 
• Mining companies contribute 10-30% on the royalty amount that they pay to the government to DMF Trust in the district they are operating in.
• The functioning of the DMF trusts and the fund use governed by states’ DMF Rules incorporate the mandates of a central guideline, Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) that specifies high priority areas of investments.

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3. COMMITTEE OF PRIVILEGES (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity)

Context: Taking note of the “growing incidents” of members casting aspersions on the presiding officers of Rajya Sabha, the Committee of Privileges has said that henceforth any such action by members would “amount to breach of privilege and contempt of the House” and there would be “exemplary consequences”.

Committee of Privileges

• This committee consists of 15 members in Lok Sabha ( 10 in case of Rajya Sabha) nominated by the Speaker (Chairman in case of Rajya Sabha).
• In the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairperson heads the committee of privileges.
• The committee examines every question involving a breach of privilege of the House or of the members or of any Committee thereof referred to it by the House or by the Speaker/Chairman. 
• It also determines with reference to the facts of each case whether a breach of privilege is involved and makes suitable recommendations in its report.
• It also states the procedure to be followed by the House in giving effect to its recommendations.
• When a question of privilege is referred to the Committee by the House, the report of the Committee is presented to the House by the Chairman or, in his absence, by any member of the Committee.
• Where a question of privilege is referred to the Committee by the Speaker, the report of the Committee is presented to the Speaker who may pass final orders thereon or direct that it be laid on the Table of the House.
• The Speaker/Chairman may refer to the Committee any petition regarding the disqualification of a member on the ground of defection for making a preliminary inquiry and submitting a report to him.
• The procedure to be followed by the Committee in these cases is so far as may be the same as in applicable to questions of breach of privilege.

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4. ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS PROGRAMME (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Governance)

Context: According to the latest Multidimensional Poverty Index released by Niti Aayog, aspirational districts are doing better in poverty alleviation. 

• The average decline in number of multidimensionally poor was higher for aspirational districts between 2015-16 and 2019-21. 
• However, they still lag the country in poverty ratio - the proportion of people who are multidimensionally poor or lacking access to basic facilities. 

Aspirational Districts programme

• Launched by the PM in January 2018, the Aspirational Districts programme aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most under-developed districts across the country. 
• The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts through monthly delta ranking; all driven by a mass movement.
• With States as the main drivers, this program focuses on the strength of each district, identifying low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement and measuring progress by ranking districts on a monthly basis.
• The ranking is based on the incremental progress made across 49 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under 5 broad socio-economic themes - Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development and Infrastructure. 
• Another focus of the programme is to further dive into the progress at the block-level within each district. The districts are encouraged to monitor the progress of the blocks that lead to the overall improvement of the district.
• The Aspirational Districts Programme essentially is aimed at localizing Sustainable Development Goals, leading to the progress of the nation.

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5. CANNABIS MEDICINE PROJECT (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Health)

Context: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space said, Jammu is going to pioneer India's first Cannabis Medicine Project.

Key Points

• ‘Cannabis Research Project’ of CSIR-IIIM Jammu is a first of its kind in India initiated in Private Public Partnership with a Canadian firm, which has a great potential to put substance of abuse for the good of mankind especially for patients suffering from neuropathies, cancer and epilepsy.
• Cannabis Research Project’ of CSIR-IIIM Jammu is a first of its kind in India under PPP with a Canadian firm, has great potential to put substance of abuse for the good of mankind.
• This project of CSIR-IIIM is important from the perspective of Atma- Nirbhar Bharat as it will be able to produce export quality drugs meant for different kinds of neuropathies, diabetic pains etc. 
• CSIR-IIIM is the oldest scientific research institute in India with the history of discovering mint way back in 1960s, the centre of purple revolution and now the Cannabis Research Project of CSIR-IIIM is going to make it more prestigious in terms of scientific research in India.

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6. INS KIRPAN (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - IR)

Context: In the first-ever instance of India offering a fully operational missile corvette to Vietnam, the Navy decommissioned INS Kirpan and handed it over to Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) - reflecting the growing defence ties and strategic partnership between New Delhi and Hanoi.

INS Kirpan

• INS Kirpan—which is an indigenously-built missile corvette—was decommissioned after completing 32 years of service to be gifted to Vietnam. 
• It was handed over to VPN with a complete weapon complement. 
• Since its commissioning in 1991, the ship has been an integral part of the Navy’s Eastern Fleet and has participated in several operations.
• The transfer of INS Kirpan from the Indian Navy to the Vietnam People’s Navy symbolises the status of the Indian Navy of being the ‘Preferred Security partner’ in the Indian Ocean Region and would be a catalyst for enhancing the existing bilateral relations between the two navies, the Navy said in a statement.
• The bilateral defence engagements between both countries have expanded over the years and includes wide-ranging contacts between the two countries, including Defence Policy Dialogues, military to military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programmes, cooperation in UN Peacekeeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises.

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7. KARNATAKA’S SOLIGAS TRIBES (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Env & Eco)

Context: In Karnataka’s Chamarajanagara district, where silver cockscomb is referred to as anne soppu, farmers of the Soliga tribe say controlling the weed can cost up to Rs 2,000 per acre (0.4 hectare) per year. 

• Yet they do not consider silver cockscomb a weed.
• If left unchecked, it can spread quickly and suppress the growth of other crops, affecting their yield. 
• It also attracts insects, caterpillars, worms and moths that can harm crops.

Key Points

• For the Soligas, known for their traditional knowledge of ecology, silver cockscomb is a nutritious leafy green vegetable that grows well even on fallow land and in drought-like conditions.
• Also known as lagos spinach, the weed belongs to the Amaranthaceae family, which includes economically important plants like spinach (Spinacia oleracea), beetroot and quinoa. 
• The plant is known as Celosia argentea in scientific lexicon, kurdu in Marathi and pannai keerai in Tamil.
• Silver cockscomb is a short-lived 50-60 cm-tall plant that bears simple, spirally arranged leaves around the stem with pinkish or silky white flowers. 
• Since it grows widely on farmlands across the country, most farmers use the plant as fodder. But like the Soliga tribe, some communities also consume it as a leafy vegetable.
• Soliga tribe of Karnataka uses silver cockscomb to make side dishes like palya for rotis, rice or ragi balls.

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8. RANSOMWARE VIRUS 'AKIRA' (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Cyber Security)

Context: An Internet ransomware virus 'Akira' that steals vital personal information and encrypts data leading to extortion of money from people has been reported in cyberspace, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) said.

Key Points

• The ransomware group is "known to access victim environments via VPN [virtual private network] services, particularly where users have not enabled multi-factor authentication." 
• Ransomware is a computer malware that infects and blocks users from using their own data and system and they can get it back against a pay-off.
• This ransomware group has also utilised tools such as AnyDesk, WinRAR, and PCHunter during intrusions.
• These tools are often found in the victim's environment, and their misuse typically goes unnoticed.

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)

• CERT-In: It is an organisation of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with the objective of securing Indian cyberspace.
• Functions: It is the nodal agency which deals with cybersecurity threats like hacking and phishing.
• CERT-IN provides Incident Prevention and Response Services as well as Security Quality Management Services.
• Power: empowered under Section 70B of the Information Technology Act to collect, analyse and disseminate information on cyber security incidents.

• Mandates of the CERT-In:

• Mandatorily Enable Logs: It mandates all service providers, intermediaries, data centres, corporates and government organisations to mandatorily enable logs of all their ICT (Information and Communication Technology) systems.
• Connect and Synchronize all ICT systems: To ensure the chain of events is accurately reflected in the time frame, service providers have been asked to connect and synchronize all their ICT systems clocks to the Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) or National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
• Requires Maintaining Records: It also require virtual asset, exchange, and custodian wallet providers to maintain records on KYC and financial transactions for a period of five years.

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9. CENTRAL EQUIPMENT IDENTITY REGISTER (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Cyber Security)

Context: The Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) of the department of telecommunications ( DoT) has traced 285,000 lost or stolen mobile phones and blocked 680,000 devices since being launched.

• However, recoveries remain relatively low at 20,771 devices.

Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR)

• Launched nationwide on May 16, the CEIR is a part of the DoT´s Sanchar Saathi portal.
• The National Telecom Policy of 2012 calls for the establishment of a National Mobile Property Registry to address the issue of security, theft, and other concerns including reprogramming of mobile handsets.
• CEIR is the citizen centric portal of Department of Telecommunications for tracing the lost/stolen mobile devices. 
• It is the primary government platform aimed at protecting mobile phone users from various frauds such as identity theft, forged KYC, theft of mobile devices and banking frauds.
• People can find out the mobile connections issued in their name, get unrequired connections disconnected, block or trace lost mobile phones and check the genuineness of devices while buying a new or old mobile phone.
• The CEIR system provides telecom operators with access to both the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number of the device and the associated mobile number.
• It was already being utilised in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, parts of Maharashtra, and Delhi since 2019 as part of a pilot programme.
• Although criminals usually try to modify the IMEI number of stolen mobile phones, CEIR is designed to see through that.
• This also facilitates for blocking of lost/stolen mobile devices in network of all telecom operators so that lost/stolen devices can not be used in India. 
• If anyone tries to use the blocked mobile phone, its traceability is generated.
• Once mobile phone is found it may be unblocked on the portal for its normal use by the citizens.

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10. SAMRAT MIHIR BHOJ (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Art & Culture)

Context: Several villages in Haryana dominated by the Rajput community have imposed a ban on the entry of BJP leaders over the unveiling of a statue of Samrat Mihir Bhoj, a 9th-century ruler, with the word ‘Gurjar’ inscribed on the plaque in Kaithal district.

• Tension prevailed between the Gujjar and Rajput communities in Haryana’s Kaithal over the statue unveiling of Mihir Bhoj, a ninth-century ruler who helmed northern India.

Samrat Mihir Bhoj

• The 9th century Indian emperor Mihir Bhoj, also called Bhoja I, belongs to the Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty. 
• He is known as a warrior, conqueror and empire builder.
• His capital was at Panchala (present day Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh).
• At his peak, the emperor’s rule stretched from the Narmada River to the Sutlej River, from Bengal to Kashmir, as per different historical documents. 
• A tenth century Persian text noted that Mihir Bhoj, the powerful ‘Rai of Qinnauj’ had established his supremacy over most Indian rules. 
• One Arab chronicle mentions Mihir Bhoj as a “bitter enemy of the Arab invaders.”
• Texts mention Mihir Bhoj as being devoted to God Vishnu and used the title ?divar?ha.

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