A good example of Innovation & Dedication

✅ IAS Nazuk Kumar Turned a Mizoram District, Serchhip, from Water Deficient to Water Sufficient.

✅ Rain water was the main source of water in Serchhip but most of water was lost due to surface run-off and leaching.

✅ During the dry months, people in Serchhip faced acute water shortage. They were forced to travel miles to fetch water from natural spring.

✅ Ms. Nazuk was instrumental in construction of Rain Water Harvesting system like check dam and contour trenching through schemes like MGNREGA.

✅ She made rain water harvesting a mass movement. As a result, now some villages in Serchhip, all households have proper roof-top rain water harvesting system.

✅ Recently, Serchhip district in Mizoram has won two National Water Awards for water conservation and water management.🔥🔥

What other values can we learn this incident? 🤔🤔

#ethics

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PM dedicated 75 Digital Banking Units (DBU) across 75 districts to the nation

Important for Prelims and Mains (GS 3).

✅ DBUs will be brick-and-mortar outlets that will provide a variety of digital banking facilities to people such as opening savings accounts, balance-check, print passbooks, transfer of funds, investment in FD, loan applications, pay bills etc.

✅ DBUs will be set up by commercial banks (other than RRB, payment banks) with past digital banking experience are permitted to open DBUs in tier 1 to tier 6 centers, without having the need to take permission from the RBI in each case.

✅ In DBU, the products and services will be offered to customers in 2 modes:
-Self Service Mode
-Digital Assistance Mode

✅ Significance
-Provide banking services 24 x 7.
-Services shall be digital
-Paperless mode banking transactions
-Bank staff will be available to help users with banking transactions in assisted mode
-Help in digital financial literacy & Financial Inclusion

#GS3
#economy

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Maharatna CPSEs:
1. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
2. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
3. Coal India Limited
4. GAIL India Limited
5. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited
6. Indian Oil Corporation Limited
7. NTPC Limited
8. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited,
9. Power Finance Corporation
10. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited
11. Steel Authority of India Limited
12. Rural Electrification Corporation ltd (new)


Criteria for Maharatna Status:
-- recorded more than Rs. 5,000 crore of net profit for three consecutive years,
-- an average annual turnover of Rs. 25,000 crore for three years or
-- an average annual net worth of Rs. 15,000 crore for three years.
-- It should also have global operations or footprints.
-- A CPSE should also have a Navratna status, be listed on an Indian stock exchange.

#economy #GS3

🔆Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2022 💸💸

In news: MPI titled ‘Unpacking Deprivation package to reduce Multidimensional Poverty’ was released recently.

✅ MPI is released by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

✅ Scoring:
The MPI ranges from 0 to 1, higher values imply higher poverty.
A person is multidimensionally poor if she/he is deprived in 1/3rd or more of the weighted indicators (out of the ten indicators).

✅ India-specific findings:
India has the largest number of poor worldwide.
More than one in five children is poor.
MPI value fell from 0.283 in 2005-06 to 0.069 in 2019-21
As many as 41.5 crore people exited poverty in India during the 15-year period

✅ Also read about:
National Multidimensional Poverty Index 🔥🔥
Published by NITI Aayog.
It includes the same 3 dimensions as in MPI but represented by 12 indicators: 10 as that of MPI and 2 additional indicators: bank account & antenatal care

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THOUGHT OF THE DAY 🎁

Sorrow looks back,
Worry looks around,
Faith looks up.
In whatever facet of life you are, always remember to look up and never give up.

Competition Commission of India

In news: CCI had imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 cr on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies

■ CCI

✅ Statutory body est. in 2009
✅ Objectives: Eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition
Promote & sustain competition
Protect the interests of consumers
Ensure freedom of trade in the market
✅Composition: The Commission consists of 1 Chairperson and 6 members who shall be appointed by the Union gov

▪️Functions:

✅ Commission is a quasi-judicial body
✅ Mandated to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness & impart training on competition issues

▪️Powers:

✅ To inquire into a certain agreement as well as the dominant position of enterprises
✅ Inquire into any acquisition or combination if it determines that such acquisition may adversely affect competition in the Indian market
✅ Regulate its own procedures
✅ Impose monetary penalties upon violation of the Competition Act, 2002

#Gs2

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Kalanamak rice

In News: Indian Agriculture Research Institute has successfully tested 2 new dwarf varieties that doubles the yield and solves lodging problem.

About Kalanamak Rice 🌾

✅ Kalanamak, a traditional variety of paddy with black husk and strong fragrance.

✅ It is considered as a gift from Lord Buddha to the people of Sravasti when he visited the region after enlightenment.

✅ Grown in 11 districts of the Terai region of northeastern UP and in Nepal.

✅ The traditional Kalanamak rice is protected under the GI tag.

✅ The traditional variety has been prone to ‘lodging’, a reason for its low yield.

What is Lodging? 👇🏼👇🏼
The plant head become heavy due to Grain formation (rice) as a result the long stem of plant cannot support it & the plant falls on ground.

#agriculture
#prelims

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🔆 Participatory Notes (P-notes):

✅ issued by registered FPIs to overseas investors who wish to be a part of Indian stock market without registering themselves directly. They, however, need to go through a due diligence process.

✅ Investment via P-notes normally moves in trend with FPI investment. When there is a global risk to the environment, investment through P-notes increases and vice versa.

#Economy
#Gs3

An invasive alien species, Senna spectabilis is spreading in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).

About Senna spectabilis🌿🌿
- Introduced as an ornamental species and for use as firewood from South and Central America in the Nilgiris region.
- The species has quickly spread in both the core and buffer zones of the MTR.

What are Invasive alien species (IAS)?
They are any organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, & which may adversely affect the environment

How is it a threat? 🤔🤔
Conservationists say the invasive weed has a negative effect on local biodiversity, crowding out native species & limiting food availability for wildlife.

Other Invasive Species in MTR:
-Lantana camara
-Eucalyptus
-Pine
-Wattle or Acacia pycnantha

💡 Steps to control IAS
-Prevent introduction of alien species
-Strengthening domestic quarantine measures
-Developing early warning systems in response to new sightings of IAS
-Providing funding to research on managing invasive species

#Prelims
#environment
#Gs3

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Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has approved environmental release of indigenously developed Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)🔥🔥

About DMH-11
-It is a transgenic crop because it uses foreign genes from a different species.
-DMH-11 is a result of a cross between two varieties: Varuna & Early Heera-2
-The cross was done by introducing genes from two soil bacterium called barnase & barstar
-Barnase in Varuna induces a temporary sterility because of which it can’t naturally self-pollinate
-Barstar in Heera blocks the effect of barnase allowing seeds to be produced

Mustard (Brassica juncea) 🌿
-It is a self-pollinating plant.
-Cultivated in 6-7 million hectares during the Rabi winter season predominantly in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab & Madhya Pradesh

Why do we need GM Mustard?
India imports anywhere from 55-60% of its domestic edible-oil requirement. This is primarily due to low productivity & GM mustard will help to boost productivity.


#Prelims
#agriculture
#Gs3

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S. Jaishankar on PLI Scheme - This is another chance to board a bus that we had unfortunately missed a few times before.

On lighter note 😂