Ways and Means Advances(WMA) Scheme:

● Ways and Means Advances(WMA) Scheme was introduced in 1997.

● Purpose: These are temporary loan facilities provided by the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) to the central and state governments to meet mismatches in the cash flows of their receipts and expenditures.

● Interest Rate: It is currently at the existing repo rate and the tenure is for three months.However, if the tenure is extended,it will be treated as an overdraft which is charged above repo rate.

● Types of WMA:

○ Special WMA: It is extended against the collateral of the government securities held by the State Government and

○ Normal WMA: It is based on a three-year average of actual revenue and capital expenditure of the state.It is not collateral based.

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✅✅TOPICS FOR TODAY

1. Defence Acquisition Council

2. International Solar Alliance

3. Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project

4. Central information commission

5. Akash Missile

PS :these are five topics that have been in news in one year

Cover these topics ✅✅

🔵next bunch of topics will soon be posted

Happy learning and keep sharing 👍👍✅✅

Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS)

- is an electronic platform for facilitating the financing / discounting of trade receivables of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through multiple financiers.

- These receivables can be due from corporates and other buyers, including Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).

- Sellers, buyers and financiers are the participants on a TReDS platform.


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♻️ SAATHEE, SATHI, SAATHI, SATH

🔺SAATHEE Portal launched by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) as a Management Information System (MIS) portal namely State-wise Actions on Annual Targets and Headways on Energy Efficiency (SAATHEE).

🔺SATHI (Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institutes) is an initiative of the Department of Science & Technology (Ministry of Science and Technology)

🔺SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help Small Industries) is an initiative of the Ministry of Textiles.

🔺SATH (Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital) Program is a program of NITI Aayog.


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🔹 MARPOL Convention

- The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main
international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes.

- The Convention includes regulations aimed at preventing and minimizing pollution from ships -
both accidental pollution and that from routine operations.

- India has signed the International Convention


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What Is Summer And Winter Solstice?

Solstice, an event that occur twice a year, where the Sun appears to reach its northern most or farthest point from an observer on earth or southern most or the closest point from an observer on earth.

The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, and happens around 21 December in the Southern Hemisphere and 21 June in the Northern Hemisphere. The WInter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, and happens around 21 June in the Southern Hemisphere and 21 December in the Northen Hemisphere.

The exact date of each solstice changes by a few days each year, the orbital and rotational motion of the earth such as 'wobble" in the Earth's axis also contribute to the changing solstice dates. The solstices occur because the rotation axis of the Earth is tilted by an angle of 23.5 degrees from the vertical. If the Earth’s rotation was at right angles to the plane of its orbit around the Sun, there would be no solstice days and no seasons. The number of daylight hours received on each solistice directly corresponds to the distance of the observer on earth from the sun.

What is Smog Tower? How does it work?

Smog towers are structures designed as large-scale air purifiers to reduce air pollution. Smog towers work on the principle of HEPA filtration or air ionisation technology to remove PM2.5 particles. That is, air flowing through a smog tower passes through a filter to provide clean air coming out of it. These methods of cleaning air are scientifically well established and used widely for cleaning indoor air where the air exchange with the outdoors is minimal.

The first prototype of a smog tower was built in 2017 by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde in Beijing as a demonstration and art project that Converts the carbon in filtered particles into diamonds. The device will be able to take in air from all 360-degree angles and generate 1,300,000 cubic metres of clean air per hour. The smog tower sucks the polluted air, which is purified by the multiple layers before re-circulated into the atmosphere.

To purify the air; the highly effective H14 grade Highly Effective Particulate Arrestance (HEPA) filter would be used. This filter can clean up to 99.99% Particulate Matter (PM) present in the air with the help of pre-filter and activated carbon.

It is the state bird of Madhya Pradesh.

Can you name it?