1. AIF AND VCF (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Economy)

Context: Capital markets regulator SEBI reduced the validity period of approval given to alternative investment funds (AIFs) and venture capital funds (VCFs) for making overseas investments to four months from six months at present. 

Key Points

• If these funds fail to make investments within this time limit, then SEBI can allocate their unutilized limits to other applicant AIFs and VCs.
• The decision has been taken considering into account the recommendation of the Alternative Investments Policy Advisory Committee.
• Under the rule, AIFs and VCFs have a time limit of six months from the date of prior approval from Sebi to making the allocated investments in offshore venture capital undertakings.
• In case the applicant AIFs and VCFs does not utilize the limits allocated to them within six months then Sebi can allocate such unutilized limit to another applicant.

Alternative investment funds (AIFs)

• As defined in Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, AIFs refer to any privately pooled investment fund, (whether from Indian or foreign sources), in the form of a trust or a company or a body corporate or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
• AIF does not include funds covered under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999 or any other regulations of the Board to regulate fund management activities.
• Hence, in India, AIFs are private funds which are otherwise not coming under the jurisdiction of any regulatory agency in India.

Venture capital funds (VCFs)

• According to SEBI, VCF is a fund established in the form of a trust/company including a body corporate and registered with SEBI. 
• The VCF will have dedicated pool of capital, raised in the specified manner and invested by following regulations of SEBI.
• The objective of the venture capital financing is to invest in high-risk projects with the anticipation of high returns

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2. SORGHUM (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Agriculture)

Context: New sorghum varieties developed by scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can help meet the nutritional needs of mothers and children in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study.

Key Points

• The results of the research are critical as sorghum is a significant crop cultivated in sub-Saharan Africa, with 300 million people depending on it.
• Though sorghum provides many dietary benefits, as it is high in protein, fibre, vitamin B and some micronutrients, it lacks sufficient vitamin A precursors and key minerals such as iron and zinc, like many other cereal grains. 
• The new varieties are enhanced with both provitamin A and non-provitamin A carotenoids. 
• These varieties also contain a more efficient phytase enzyme, a protein that breaks down phytic acid. 
• This improves the absorption of nutrients from the diet.

Sorghum

• Sorghum, also called great millet, Indian millet, is cereal grain plant of the grass family (Poaceae) and its edible starchy seeds. Sorghum plants are very hardy and can withstand high temperature and drought conditions.

• The plant originated in Africa, where it is a major food crop. The variety of the crop found in India is called jowar that originated here.
• The grain is popular across the world because it has a low glycaemic index, is gluten-free and nutritious.
• The lower the glycemic index of a cereal, the lower is the relative rise in blood glucose level after two hours of consuming it.
• The key varieties of millets include Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Ragi, Small Millet, Foxtail Millet, Barnyard Millet, Kodo Millet and others.
• Jowar has a dedicated All-India Coordinated Research Project since 1969.

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3. DEFAMATION IN INDIA (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity & Governance)

Context: The Supreme Court stayed the conviction of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case for the ‘Modi’ surname remark he allegedly made during a political rally in 2019.

• Challenging the July 7 Gujarat High Court decision which upheld his conviction, he asked how an “undefined amorphous group” could possibly be defamed in the first place.

Defamation in India

• About: Defamation is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.

• Legal provisions: In India, defamation can both be a civil wrong and a criminal offence.

• Criminal defamation has been specifically defined as an offence under section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

• Section 499 states defamation could be through words, spoken or intended to be read, through signs, and also through visible representations.

• Section 499 also cites exceptions: These include “imputation of truth” which is required for the “public good” and thus has to be published, on the public conduct of government officials, the conduct of any person touching any public question and merits of the public performance.

• Section 500 of IPC, which is on punishment for defamation, reads, “Whoever defames another shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”

• Civil defamation is based on tort law (an area of law which does not rely on statutes to define wrongs but takes from ever-increasing body of case laws to define what would constitute a wrong).

• Supreme Court View

• Subramanian Swamy vs Union of India case (2014): The Court approved the Constitutional validity of sections 499 and 500 (criminal defamation) in the Indian Penal Code, underlining that an individual’s fundamental right to live with dignity and reputation “cannot be ruined solely because another individual can have his freedom”.

• J Jayalalithaa case (2016): The court passed strictures on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for misusing the criminal defamation law to “suffocate democracy” and, the court said, “public figures must face criticism”.

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4. MINIMUM AGE FOR CONTESTING ELECTION (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity & Governance)

Context: A Parliamentary panel recommended lowering the minimum age for contesting an Assembly election from 25 years to 18 years, saying it would widen the viewpoints in policy debates, thereby improving the credibility of the political process.

Key Points

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice presented its report on “aspects of election process and their reform” to the Rajya Sabha. 
• The panel also cautioned the government and the Election Commission on their proposal for a common electoral roll for Parliamentary, Assembly and local body elections, saying that the principles of federalism should be adhered to. 
• The committee also recommended increasing the punishment for a candidate filing a false affidavit from six months to up to two years and a fine, depending on the severity of the offence.
• The committee observes that reducing the minimum age requirement for candidacy in elections would give young individuals equal opportunities to engage in democracy.
• The committee said it was disconcerting that 47% of MPs in 2019 were over the age of 55, as per PRS Legislative Research, while India’s median age was 27.9 years.
• The Election Commission, however, did not agree with the need to change the minimum age. 
• In its input to the committee, the poll panel said it has considered the issue and found it unrealistic to expect 18-year-olds to “possess the necessary experience and maturity for these responsibilities”.

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5. IIM BILL 2023 (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Education)

Context: The Lok Sabha passed Indian Institute of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023 proposing that the management accountability of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM)s should be with the President, who will now be a Visitor. 

Highlights of the bill

• About: The Bill amends the Indian Institutes of Management Act, 2017.   

• The Act declares Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as institutes of national importance and regulates their functioning. 

• Visitor: The Bill designates the President of India as Visitor of every Institute covered by the Act.

• Appointment and removal of IIM Directors: Under the Act, the Director of an IIM is appointed by the Board of Governors, based on the recommendations of a Search-cum-Selection Committee.  

• The Bill mandates the Board to obtain the prior approval of the Visitor before appointing an Institute Director.

• Appointment of the Chairperson of the Board of Governors: Under the Act, the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of each Institute is appointed by the Board.  

• The Bill amends this to provide that the Chairperson of the Board will be nominated by the Visitor.

• Inquiries against IIMs: The Act empowers the Board to initiate an inquiry against an Institute if it has not been functioning in accordance with the Act.  A retired High Court judge conducts such inquiries.   Based on its findings, the Board may take any action that it deems fit.  

• The Bill removes all these provisions, and proposes a new procedure for inquiries. 

• Dissolution of the Board:  The Bill provides that the central government may prescribe the conditions and procedure for dissolving or suspending an Institute’s Board. 

• If a Board is suspended or dissolved, the central government will constitute an interim board for six months or until a new Board is constituted.

• Co-ordination Forum:  The Act provides for a Co-ordination Forum for all the Institutes. The Chairperson of the Forum is selected by a Search-cum-Selection Committee, constituted by the Forum.  

• The Bill amends this to provide that the Chairperson will be nominated by the Visitor. 

• Incorporation of Institutes: The Act provides that when an existing institution converts to an IIM under this Act, every employee of such institution will retain the same tenure, salary, pensions as before. 

• The Bill excludes the Director of such institutions from this provision.

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6. DIGITAL HEALTH INCENTIVES SCHEME (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Health)

Context: The National Health Authority (NHA) announces extension of its Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) till 31st December 2023. 

Key Points

• Under DHIS, incentives are provided to hospitals and diagnostic labs and to the providers of digital health solutions such as Hospital/ Health Management Information System (HMIS) and Laboratory Management Information System (LMIS) for adopting and enabling transformative digitization under ABDM.
• The DHIS was launched with effect from 1st January, 2023 as part of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. 
• Under the DHIS, the eligible health facilities and digital solutions companies shall be able to earn financial incentives of up to Rs. 4 crores based on the number of digital health records created and linked to ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) numbers of the patients. 
• This incentive can be availed by the health facilities (hospitals, diagnostic labs) and Digital Solution Companies, registered with ABDM’s Health Facility Registry (HFR) and fulfilling the eligibility criterion specified under the scheme. 
• It is anticipated that the DHIS advantages offered to the DSCs will contribute to cost reduction or will be transmitted further to the relevant healthcare facilities to pay their digitization costs, etc.
• As on date, 1205 health facilities have registered under this scheme with 567 public and 638 private hospitals/ clinics/ diagnostic labs. Further, out of the 25 digital solution companies registered, 22 are from the private sector. 
• Till June 2023, close to 120 health facilities and 7 health tech companies have received incentives totalling to Rs. 4.84 Cr. 

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7. FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Sports)

Context:  India has won a total of 23 medals across 4 disciplines with highest medal count coming from shooting which has won India 14 medals including 8 Gold medals at the halfway mark of the ongoing World University Games(3rd August). 

• Out of these 23 medals, 14 medals have come from Khelo India Athletes, while all medals in Shooting (14) have been won by Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Athletes and India's highest medal count by an individual (4, including 3 Gold) coming from TOPS Shooter.

FISU World University Games

• The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). 
• The former name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".

Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

• About: Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme was formulated in 2014 under overall ambit of National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) with the aim to identify, groom and prepare potential medal prospects for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• It was particularly launched for India’s Olympic medal dream, at the 2016 (Rio) and 2020 (Tokyo) Olympics.

• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) 

• Monthly stipend: It includes foreign training, international competition, equipment, and coaching camp besides a monthly stipend of Rs. 50,000/- for each athlete.

• High priority category: It has been created to put focus on those sports disciplines played in the Olympics in which India has won medals in the last conducted Asian Games as well as Commonwealth Games or in which India has a good chance of winning medals.

• Mission Olympic Cell: The Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) is a dedicated body created to assist the athletes who are selected under the TOP Scheme.

• Chairman: The MOC is under the Chairmanship of the Director-General, Sports Authority of India (DG, SAI).

• Objective: The idea of the MOC is to debate, discuss and decide the processes and methods so that the athlete receives the best assistance.

• Function: The MOC focuses on the selection, exclusion, and retention of athletes, coaches, training institutes that can receive TOPS assistance.

• National Sports Development Fund (NSDF): It was established in November, 1998 under Charitable Endowments Act, 1890 with the aim of promotion of sports and games in the country.

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8. COMMITTEE ON OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 - Indian Society)

Context: Union Home Minister said that Hindi must be finally accepted without opposition, even if the pace of acceptance is slow.

• He chaired the 38th meeting of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language.

Key Points

• During the meeting, the 12th volume of the report of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language was also approved which will be presented to the President.
• Since Independence till 2014, nine volumes of report of the Committee of Parliament on Official Language have been submitted, and since 2019 three volumes have been approved. 
• These volumes have been prepared subject wise and the theme of 12th volume is ‘Simplification’.

Committee of Parliament on Official Language 

• It was set up in 1976 under Section 4 of The Official Languages Act, 1963.

• Section 4 of the Act says “there shall be constituted a Committee on Official language, on a resolution to that effect being moved in either House of Parliament with the previous sanction of the President and passed by both Houses”.

• Under the provisions of the 1963 Act, the panel submits its report to the President, who “shall [then] cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to all the State Governments”.
• The Committee is chaired by the Union Home Minister, and has, in accordance with the provisions of the 1963 Act, 30 members - 20 MPs from Lok Sabha and 10 MPs from Rajya Sabha.
• The mandate of the Committee is to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for official purposes, and to make recommendations to increase the use of Hindi in official communications.
• The first Report of the Committee was submitted in 1987.

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9. RASHBA SPLITTING (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context: Using some 2-D carbides or nitrides of transition metals, a team of scientists have computationally designed a new composite quantum material that exhibits an exotic quantum property called Rashba splitting, in colossal scale, in a metallic environment.

Key Points

• Scientist focused their computational research on 2-D quantum materials, which are materials with confined geometry in one of the directions. 2-D materials are important as they are easier to assimilate in devices.
• This material can help interfacing with other substrates (2D substrates like graphene) in spintronic devices like spin transistors, spin diodes, and spin filters that take advantage of electron spin, a quantum property of electrons, to achieve higher performance.
• The team focused on creating composite 2-D quantum materials, which are quantum materials exhibiting two apparently different quantum properties, but connected by the basic requirement of symmetries. 
• In their study, by proper choice of materials ingredients, the workers managed to demonstrate the existence of two distinct quantum phenomena, - Rashba effect, (a momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands) and nonlinear anomalous Hall effect, arising from anomalous velocity of the electrons, in the same 2-D material.
• With the 2D composite material designed computationally, the scientists hope that the challenges of manufacturing Janus MXenes in the lab and at a large scale will be gradually overcome to bring benefits for devices, energy security, and the economy. 

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10. TRACHOMA (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 - Sci & Tech)

Context: Iraq has now joined the league of 17 other countries that have eliminated trachoma, a neglected tropical disease and the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced recently. 

• The country is also the 50th to be acknowledged by the United Nations health agency for eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease globally. 
• Trachoma is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and is one of the conditions known as neglected tropical diseases.
• The disease is still known to be endemic in six countries of the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region, but there has been substantial progress in the number of people in the region requiring antibiotic treatment for trachoma elimination purposes, which has fallen from 39 million in 2013 to 6.9 million in April 2023.

Trachoma

• About: It is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and is one of the conditions known as neglected tropical diseases.

• It is caused by the infection due to the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.

• Symptoms: Trachoma starts off as a bacterial infection and can be easily treated. 

• The disease thrives where there are water shortages, poor sanitation and infestations of flies, which are considered physical vectors of the disease.

• Transmission: Trachoma spreads through personal contact (via hands, clothes or bedding). 

• It also transmits by flies that contact with the discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person.

• Trichiasis: Overtime, it causes the eyelashes to be pushed inwards into the eye. 

• So with every blink, they brush against the eyeball. This advanced form of trachoma is called trichiasis. 
• Over time, if it’s not treated, trichiasis can lead to blindness.

• Effects and Impacts: Trachoma mainly affects children. It is becoming less common with increasing age.

• Repeated Trachoma infection causes scarring leading to in-turning of the eyelashes and eyelids which further causes damage to cornea and blindness.
• It is main cause of corneal blindness in India, affecting young children.
• In 2017, India was declared free from infectious Trachoma. 
• With this, India met goal of trachoma elimination as specified by World Health Organisation (WHO) under its GET2020 (Global Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020) program. 
• It was launched to map 25 districts suspected of being trachoma-endemic.
• The mapping survey aimed to determine the prevalence of active trachoma (TF) in 1-9-year-old children, and the prevalence of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in adults aged 15 years and above.

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