1. NEW GI PRODUCTS (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy)

Context: : Seven products from across India, including four from Rajasthan, were given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai. 

• The GI tags were secured by ‘Jalesar Dhatu Shilp’ (a metal craft), ‘Goa Mankurad Mango’, ‘Goan Bebinca’, ‘Udaipur Koftgari Metal Craft’, ‘Bikaner Kashidakari Craft’, ‘Jodhpur Bandhej Craft’, and ‘Bikaner Usta Kala Craft’.

About the Products

• Goa Mankurad Mango: This variety of mango is also known as malcorada, cardozo mankurad, corado, and Goa mankur. The Portuguese named the fruit malcorada, which means ‘poor coloured’, and with time, it became mankurad aamo (mango) in Konkani.
• Goan Bebinca: Bebinca, also known as the ‘queen of Goan desserts’, is a traditional Indo-Portuguese pudding.
• Jalesar Dhatu Shilp (a metal craft): At Jalesar in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district, once the capital of Magadha king Jarasandha, over 1,200 small units are engaged in making ‘Jalesar Dhatu Shilp’, including ghungrus (anklets), ghantis (bells) and other decorative metal craft and brassware. The Thatheras community, which resides in a mohalla (locality) named Hathuras, makes these products.
• Udaipur Koftgari Metal Craft: weapons are exquisitely ornamented by a complicated process of etching designs, heating, and then cooling, intertwined with embedding gold and silver wire into the metal, pressing and flattening it to a smooth surface with moonstone, and finally polishing it.
• Bikaner Kashidakari Craft: traditionally created on cotton, silk or velvet with a variety of fine stitches and mirror-work, mainly for objects associated with marriage, especially gift items.
• Jodhpur Bandhej Craft: It is the Rajasthani art of tying and dyeing. Bandhej is one of the most famous textile art forms of Rajasthan.
• Bikaner Usta Kala Craft: It is also known as gold nakashi or gold manauti work due to the prominence of its long-lasting golden colour. Untreated raw camel hide is processed and moulded by the Dapgar community of leather craftspeople for the requirements of the Usta.

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

Context: Collections from the corporation tax declined nearly 14 percent yearonyear (YoY) to ? 1.38 trillion in the first quarter of this financial year (Q1FY24), from ? 1.61 trillion, despite signs of economic recovery.

Corporate tax

• A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed by a jurisdiction on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities.
• It is levied on both the public and private companies registered under the Companies Act of 2013.
• The rate at which the tax is imposed is as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• The Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) does not apply to such companies.
• It is imposed on the net income or profit that corporate enterprises make from their businesses.

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3. WTO’S MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy & Trade)

Context:  Developing countries like India will flag serious concerns over the impact of European Union’s (EU) regulations on climate change and trade such as carbon tax, on their domestic industry, during WTO ministerial meeting next year. 

• The four-day 13th ministerial conference (MC) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is scheduled for 26 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi. 

WTO’s Ministerial Conference

• The Ministerial Conference is the WTO’s top decision-making body 
• It usually meets every two years.
• All members of the WTO are involved in the Ministerial Conference and they can take decisions on all matters covered under any multilateral trade agreements.
• The WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference was held in Geneva from 12-17 June. Key Outcomes:
• Curtailing harmful fishing subsidies: The WTO passed a multilateral agreement that would curb ‘harmful’ subsidies on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing for the next four years, to better protect global fish stocks. 
• Global Food Security: Members agreed to a binding decision to exempt food purchased by the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) for humanitarian purposes, from any export restrictions.
• E-commerce transactions: All members agreed to continue the long standing moratorium on custom duties on e-commerce transmissions until the subsequent Ministerial Conference or until March 31, 2024, depending on whichever comes first.
• Covid-19 vaccine production: WTO members agreed to temporarily waive intellectual property patents on Covid-19 vaccines without the consent of the patent holder for 5 years, so that they can more easily manufacture them domestically.

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4. PM-KUSUM (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Energy)

Context: The Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power has informed that the main objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) include de-dieselisation of the farm sector, providing water and energy security to farmers, increasing the income of farmers and curbing environmental pollution.

• PM-KUSUM is a demand driven scheme and therefore quantities/ capacities are allocated under the three components of the scheme based on demand received from the States/ UTs.  
• However, funds are allocated based on type / capacity of systems and progress of installation reported by the State Implementing Agencies.

PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Uttham Mahabhiyan)

• About: It  envisages income generation for farmers from their infertile land with the establishment of solar power plants.
• While the farmers can sell the power generated from the solar plants to the power distribution companies, the solar pumps can also be installed for irrigation of agricultural land.
• Origin: It was launched in 2019 by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• Aim: To help farmers access reliable daytime solar power for irrigation, reduce power subsidies, and decarbonise agriculture. 

• Three components:

• Component A: 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground Mounted Grid Connected Renewable Power Plants of individual plant size up to 2 MW.
• Component B: Installation of 17.50 lakh standalone Solar Powered Agriculture Pumps of individual pump capacity up to 7.5 HP.
• Component C: Solarisation of 10 Lakh Grid-connected Agriculture Pumps of individual pump capacity up to 7.5 HP.

• Deployment Models: 

• They can use one of three deployment models: 
• off-grid solar pumps, 
• solarised agricultural feeders, or 
• grid connected pumps. 
• Off-­grid pumps have been the most popular, but the nearly 2,80,000 systems deployed fall far short of the scheme’s target of two million by 2022. 
• Implementation: State Nodal Agencies (SNAs) of MNRE will coordinate with States/UTs, Discoms and farmers for implementation of the scheme.

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5. PM SVANIDHI (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Govt. Schemes)

Context: The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has set a new target for its loan scheme for street vendors - 63 lakh new loans in less than six months till December this year - after having disbursed 50 lakh loans to 39 lakh beneficiaries in the three years since the scheme’s launch in 2020.

PM SVANidhi

• The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on June 01, 2020 for providing affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown.
• It is a special micro-credit facility plan to provide affordable loan of up to ?10,000 to more than 50 lakh street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March.
• Small Industries Development Bank of India is the technical partner for implementation of this scheme.
• It will manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.

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6. GLOBAL TOBACCO EPIDEMIC (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Health)

Context: Netherlands and Mauritius have now joined Brazil and Turkey in implementing all the recommended measures to reduce tobacco smoking globally, United Nations’ health agency the World Health Organization said.

• In a fresh report, WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic, 2023: protect people from tobacco smoke, the UN health agency urged countries to scale up their use of recognised measures to reduce tobacco use. 

Key Points

• The MPOWER tobacco control measures by the health agency provide tips on quitting and preventing passive smoking, as well as information on tobacco risks, information on restrictions on advertising, promotion and sponsorship and information about raising taxes on tobacco.
• The Parties of the WHO Framework Convention have committed themselves to protecting the health of their populations in a battle against the global tobacco epidemic.  
• In order to assist the countries fulfill their commitments under the Framework Convention, en 2008, the WHO established MPOWER,  a plan consisting of the six most important and effective tobacco control methods.

• The six MPOWER strategies include:

• M: Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies
• P: Protect people from tobacco smoke
• O: Offer help to quit smoking
• W: Warn about the dangers of tobacco
• E: Enforce bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship
• R: Raise taxes on tobacco
• The global rate of the prevalence of smoking had dropped from 22.8 percent in 2007 to 17 per cent in 2021. 
• Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death, killing 8.7 million people each year, including 1.3 million who die from inhaling second-hand smoke.
• 74 countries have no regulations in place addressing such products, meaning no bans on use in public places, no labelling requirements and no bans on advertising. 

Steps Taken by India to control Tobacco Consumption 

• India adopted the tobacco control provisions under WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
• The Promulgation of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Ordinance, 2019 prohibits Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement of e-Cigarettes.
• The Government of India launched the National Tobacco Quitline Services (NTQLS) which have the sole objective to provide telephone-based information, advice, support, and referrals for tobacco cessation.
• mCessation Programme is a similar initiative which uses mobile technology for tobacco cessation. It was launched in 2016 as part of the government’s Digital India initiative.

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7. IBERIAN WOLF (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Env & Eco)

Context: The Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus), the species of gray wolf native to the Iberian Peninsula comprising Spain and Portugal, has been extinct in the historic region of Andalusia in the extreme south of Iberia since 2020, according to the regional government.

Key Points

• Andalusia is an ‘autonomous territory’ of Spain and consists of eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Seville.
• The Iberian wolf is currently distributed over most of the autonomous territories of Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y León and some areas of La Rioja, Madrid and northern Castilla La Stain.
• More than 90 per cent of the population is located in Castilla y León, Galicia and Asturias; On the contrary, the southern population is in sharp decline.
• The Iberian wolf, like other types of gray wolf, lives in packs that are territorial and hierarchical and led by a dominant breeding pair.
• In Andalusia, it was mainly found in Sierra Morena which had good cover, prey base in the form of wild ungulates and a scarce asphalted road network as well as lack of other infrastructure.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable.

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8. CASTE CENSUS (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Population & Associated Issues

Context: The Patna high court dismissed a batch of PILs challenging the validity of the Bihar caste survey, terming the state government’s initiative “perfectly valid and legally competent”, and paving the way for the stalled exercise to resume after almost three months.

• The verdict means the interim stay ordered by the HC on May 4 automatically stands vacated.
• The bench upheld the bihar government’s contention that the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008, empowers it to conduct such an enumeration exercise in the interest of social justice. 
• It also found substance in the state government’s submissions citing assembly debates and the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the Indira Sawhney case pertaining to the rationale for reservation based on caste.

Caste Census

• About: Caste Census is the demand to include the caste-wise tabulation of India’s population in the upcoming exercise. 
• Background: Caste was last included in the Indian Census in 1931 at the time by the Britishers. 
• From 1951 to 2011, every census in independent India provided data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes but not on other castes. 
• The Britishers ended the practice in the 1941 Census, citing cost restrictions. 

• Importance of Cast Census:

• Equitable representation
• Enumerating the marginalised
• Removes caste rigidities
• Data for Policy Making
• Judicial support
• Implications: In the absence of such a census, there is no reliable estimate of the number of OBCs, other categories within OBCs, and others.
• SECC 2011:  Conducted in 2011 for the first time since 1931.
• It is meant to canvass every Indian family, both in rural and urban India, and ask about their Economic status and specific caste name.

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9. DOUBLE-NUCLEI GALAXIES (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Geography)

Context: Researchers have developed a new algorithm which has led to the discovery of thousands of double-nuclei galaxies. 

• Out of these 159 were confirmed to have pairs of accreting supermassive black holes or active galactic nuclei (AGN) as they are usually called.

Key Points

• Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) have masses of a million to several billion times the mass of the sun. 
• Accreting SMBH or AGN gives out enormous amounts of radiation over the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Detecting this radiation is one of the only ways of observing SMBHs in distant galaxies. 
• So detecting AGN pairs is one of the best ways of tracing the mergers of massive black holes. However, it is extremely rare to find galaxies that have double-nuclei and dual AGN.
• In fact, detection of dual AGN is often only by accident, and before this study less than 50 were known. 
• With time, such AGN pairs finally result in two supermassive black holes spinning around each other and giving out nano-Hz gravitational waves.  The final merger of the SMBHs will give out a burst of gravitational waves.
• Many of these double nuclei galaxies are at separations similar to the separation of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. 
• Their existence shows us how merging galaxies appear to change with time and how their SMBHs will appear before finally merging to form more massive black holes. 
• Thus, studying a large sample of double nuclei galaxies can help predict how the Milky Way and Andromeda will appear as they merge in the future. This study also shows that galactic collisions can signal “the beginning of the end” for the individual AGN as they merge to form a more massive SMBH.
• The investigators also found that the merging galaxies have a tendency to look red - indicating the presence of old stars and the decreased formation of new stars. 
• Since star formation is the lifeblood of galaxies, red galaxies represent the old, evolved population of galaxies. Thus the study reveals how AGN can extinguish the star formation in galaxies leading to the formation of red and “dead” elliptical galaxies.

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10. LOKMANYA TILAK NATIONAL AWARD (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Awards)

Context: The Prime Minister was conferred the Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune, Maharashtra. 

• The Prime Minister donated the cash prize to the Namami Gange Project.
• The Prime Minister became the 41st recipient of the award. 
• It has previously been presented to luminaries such as Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mrs Indira Gandhi, Dr Manmohan Singh, Shri N. R. Narayana Murthy, Dr E. Sreedharan among others.

Key Points

• The Award was constituted by Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust in 1983 to honor the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak. 
• Bal Gangadhar Tilak, commonly known as Lokmanya Tilak, was a prominent Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, social reformer, and political leader during the Indian independence movement.
• The British Government termed him the "Father of Indian Unrest".
• He is known for his slogan, "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it."
• It is awarded to people who have worked for the progress and development of the nation and whose contribution can only be seen as remarkable and extraordinary. 
• It is presented every year on the 1st of August - Lokmanya Tilak’s death anniversary.

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