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By admin: Nov. 25, 2021

The government of India extends PMGKAY till March 2022

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Central government has extended “Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) until March 2022.

PMGKAY

•  It is a food security programme which was launched by the Government of India in March 2020 to help and protect the poor, suffering from the disruption caused in the country due to Covid situation
• Under this scheme the government provides an additional free 5 kg wheat /Rice per person per month to the 80 crore beneficiaries of the National Food Security act including those covered under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). 

Phases of the PMGKAY

Phase-I of the Scheme was operational from April to June, 2020

Phase-II of the scheme was operational from July to November, 2020.

Phase-III of the scheme was operational from May to June, 2021.

Phase-IV of the scheme is currently operational for July - November, 2021 months.

Phase  V of the scheme will be from December 2021-March 2022.

• The Scheme is under the administrative control of the  Ministry of Finance , Government of India .

NFHS -5 Data Released by the Union Health Ministry

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• The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has released the National Family Health Survey - 5 data.The NFHS-4 was released in 2015-16 and the latest, which captured population health indicators in 2017-19, was delayed due to the pandemic.

Who Conducts the Survey?

• The NFHS is conducted by the Union Health and Family affairs Ministry. 

What is the usefulness of the NFHS data?

• The main objective of successive rounds of the NFHS is to provide reliable and comparable data relating to health and family welfare and other emerging issues.
• It provides information on important indicators which are helpful in tracking the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.

Important Highlights of the NFHS -5 data 

• The Total Fertility Rates (TFR), an average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level.  The urban TFR is 1.6 and rural 2.1. All states except Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Manipur and Meghalaya, have attained TFR l of 2.1.
• Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially from 54% to 67% at all-India level.
• Full immunization drive among children aged 12-23 months has recorded substantial improvement from 62 per cent to 76 per cent at all-India level.
• Institutional births have increased substantially from 79 per cent to 89 percent at all-India Level.
• Child Nutrition indicators show a slight improvement at all-India level as Stunting has declined from 38 per cent to 36 per cent, wasting from 21 per cent to 19 per cent and underweight from 36 per cent to 32 percent at all-India level.
• Exclusive breastfeeding to children under age 6 months has shown an improvement in all-India level from 55 percent in 2015-16 to 64 per cent in 2019-21

Terms :

TFR (Total Fertility Rates)

• It refers to the average number of children which a woman can give birth to during her reproductive life cycle .
•  According to the UN Population Division, a TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called replacement-level fertility. If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself. The population of the country will neither increase nor decline if the fertility rate of the country is 2.1

 Malnutrition in  Child Nutrition:

•  According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Malnutrition refers to deficiencies or excesses in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients or impaired nutrient utilization. It consists of both undernutrition and overweight and obesity, as well as diet-related noncommunicable diseases. 
• Undernutrition manifests in four broad forms: wasting, stunting, underweight, and micronutrient deficiencies.

Wasting:

• Wasting is defined as low weight-for-height .It usually occurs when a person has not had food of adequate quality and quantity and/or they have had frequent or prolonged illnesses.

Stunting:

• Stunting is defined as low height-for-age.It is the result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition, usually associated with poverty, poor maternal health and nutrition, frequent illness and/or inappropriate feeding and care in early life

Underweight 

• Underweight is defined as low weight-for-age. A child who is underweight may be stunted, wasted or both.

Micronutrient 

• Micronutrient deficiencies are a lack of vitamins and minerals that are essential for body functions such as producing enzymes, hormones and other substances needed for growth and development.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.

Institutions involved in Survey 

The NFHS is a collaborative project of the International Institute for Population Sciences(IIPS), Mumbai, India; ICF, Calverton, Maryland, USA and the East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India, designated IIPS as the nodal agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the NFHS.

Survey and its Phases  

The First National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) was conducted in 1992-93. 

The Second National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) was conducted in 1998-99 in all 26 states of India 

The Third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) was carried out in 2005-2006.

The Fourth  National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) was carried out in 2015-2016.

The Fifth National  Family and Health Survey(NFHS-5)was conducted in two phases, in 2019 and 2021.

Cabinet approves Farm Laws Repeal Bill after 1 year of protest by farmers

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The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to repeal three contentious farm laws that resulted in tens of thousands of farmers protesting for over a year.

Highlights:

• In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government will repeal the three farm bills.
• He also requested farmers who are protesting, to return back to their homes.
• The decision to repeal the farm laws was taken one year after farmers started their protest against it, across the country.
• These laws will be repealed in the Winter Session of Parliament.

What were those three farm laws

• Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020: 
• The law aimed at giving freedom to the farmer to sell their produce outside APMC(Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) mandis.
• The farmer can sell their product to anybody and anywhere in India.
• It removed all barriers on the Inter-state trade barrier and barred the state government from interfering in it.
• Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020:
• The Essential Commodities Act 1955 enabled the state governments to impose stock limits and restrict movement of essential commodities. The 2020 Amendment removes restrictions on stocking of certain essential commodities. 
• It provides that the central government can regulate the supply of food stuff only under extraordinary circumstances such as war, famine, exceptional price rise and grave natural calamities.
• It further specifies that stock limit can only be imposed if there is 50 per cent rise in retail price of non-perishable agricultural foodstuff over the price prevailing in the preceding 12 months or average retail price of the last five years, whichever is lower.
• Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020:    This law creates a national framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer before the production or rearing of any farm produces.

Background to the issue 

The New Economic Policy of the Narasimha Rao government in 1991 has brought a structural reform in the Indian economy. The New Economic Policy emphasized the increased participation of the private sector in the economy ,integration with the world economy and gradually scaling down of the role of the state in the Indian economy .

Significant changes has been made in the Industrial, financial and external sectors but the agriculture sector and labour sector  has remained almost untouched.

To reform the agriculture sector  and attract private investment, the Modi government  announced major economic reform in the agriculture sector by passing three laws.

It was opposed by the farmer organisation.

They feared that :

• Government will close the existing mandis and they  will not get MSP(Minimum Support Price) on their produce if they sell to private buyers.
• It will lead to discontinuation of MSP in future.
• Contract farming will lead to loss of the land by the farmers if they fail to deliver the crops as per the agreement .
• Some state governments opposed it as Agriculture was a state subject and these laws were interference in the power of the state government.
• Middle men who benefit from the mandi system fear that they will lose their business.

Supreme Court Intervention 

• Numerous petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking the removal of protesting farmers at the Delhi borders.
• The Bench headed by the  Chief Justice of India, S.A.Bobde ordered the suspension of the farm law on 11 January 2021,and set up a Committee to study the three farm laws.
• The members of the committee were Anil Ghanvat, Ashok Gulati, and Pramod Joshi. Bhupinder Singh Mann, president, Bharatiya Kisan Union, and All India Kisan Coordination Committee was also initially part of the committee but resigned later.
• The committee submitted its report on March 19 ,2021.

Assam government employees to get leave to meet parents:

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• The Assam Government has decided to grant its employees four days’ leave on New Year to meet their parents or in-laws.
• Ministers, IAS and IPS officers posted in the State can also avail this leave but field workers, including police officers up to the rank of Superintendent of Police, cannot.
• Assam Governor : Jagdish Mukhi

Assam Chief Minister: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Andhra Government ask for Center’s help to deal with flood

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Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Jagan Mohan Reddy has asked for a Rs 1000 crore  interim relief package from the Central government to help flood affected Rayalaseema region . Heavy rain has lashed Andhra Pradesh causing a breach in Annamayya reservoir in Kadapa district. Nellore district was flooded due to the Swarnamukhi river being in spate. 

Rayalaseema Region: It comprises four district of Andhra Pradesh, Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa and Chittoor   

Annamayya reservoir: The Annamayya Project is built on the Cheyyeru river which is a tributary of  the Pennar river. It is in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.

Swarnamukhi river :Swarnamukhi is an east flowing river having a total length of 130 km. It rises at an elevation of 300 m in the eastern Ghats ranges near Pakala village in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

P.M lays the foundation of Noida International Greenfield Airport

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the Noida International Airport (NIA) officially known as Noida International Greenfield Airport in Jewar of Gautam Buddha Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh.

The airport is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a 100% subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG, in close partnership with the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Government of India. 

Facts about the Airport:

• Area: 1,334 hectare  (phase 1)
• Estimated Cost: Rs. 29,650 crore
• Deadline: 2024 (Phase 1 opening / start of operations)
• Owner: Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL)
• The Noida Airport will be India’s first net-zero emission airport.

Greenfield Airport

A greenfield airport is an aviation facility where all activities from Airport planning to commissioning are carried out from scratch. Such airports are planned in the cities which are not connected by air services at all.

Highlights:

• It will be the world’s fourth-largest international airport after 
• It will be Asia’s biggest airport and create employment opportunities for more than one lakh people.
• With Noida Airport, Uttar Pradesh will become India’s first state to have 5 International Airports.

List of International Airports in Uttar Pradesh:

• Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport - Lucknow
• Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport - Varanasi
• Kushinagar International Airport - Kushinagar
• Maryada Purushottam Shriram International Airport - Ayodhya
• Jewar International Airport - Gautam Buddha Nagar

Sweden elects Magdalena Andersson as first-ever female Prime Minister for few hours

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• The Swedish  Parliament elected Social Democratic Party leader  Magdalena Andersson, as the first female Prime Minister of Sweden. 
• However, in a twist of events she had to resign a few hours later as her government failed to pass the budget in the Parliament. 
• The former Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the Social Democratic Party Stefan Lofven had resigned on November 10, 2021, after seven years as the Prime Minister. 
• Name of the Sweden Parliament: Riksdag
• Currency of Sweden: krona SEK
• Capital of Sweden: Stockholm
• First Prime Minister in the World: Robert Walpole (England,1721–1742) 
• First female Prime minister in the world: Sirimavo Bandaranaike (Sri-lanka,1960)
• First female Prime minister of India: Indira Gandhi.

Chinese company to build Sri Lankan Port Terminal

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• The Sri Lankan Cabinet has decided to award the construction of the second phase of the Colombo Port’s East Container Terminal (ECT) to the Chinese company China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) .
• In 2019 an agreement was signed by Sri Lanka, India and Japan  to develop the same terminal. It was to be developed by the Adani group of India.
• The deal signed by the former Sirisena-Wickremesinghe was cancelled by the incumbent Rajapakse government.
• It said that Port worker unions were against the deal and the Adani group was not willing to accept the terms and condition of the agreement as set up by the  Sri Lankan government. 
•  Later Sri Lanka offered the West Container Terminal development project at the same port to the Adani Group as compensation.

Capital of Sri Lanka :  Sri Jayewardenepura

Currency of Sri Lanka : Sri Lankan Rupee

World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM) 2021

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• The 5th edition of the World Congress on Disaster Management was held at IIT Delhi from 24 to 27 November by Disaster Management Initiatives and Convergence Society (DMICS) , Hyderabad.
• The event was virtually inaugurated by Rajnath Singh, Union Defence Minister.

 Theme of the WCDMA:

• “Technology, Finance and Capacity for Building Resilience to Disasters in the contexts of Covid-19.”

What is the objective of (WCDM) 2021?

• The aim behind this 5th World Congress is to bring researchers, policymakers and practitioners from around the world on the same platform to discuss various challenging issues of disaster risk management.
• The first WCDM took place in 2008 in the city of Hyderabad.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA):

• NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and was constituted in Dec 2006.
• The aim of the National Disaster Management Authority is to build a safer and disaster-resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster and technology-driven strategy for disaster management.

Organisational Structure:

• The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of the NDMA. 
• The Cabinet Minister is the Vice-Chairman.
• The NDMA Secretariat, headed by a Secretary, is responsible for providing secretarial support and continuity.
• Along with this, NDMA has 8 Ministers of State as its Members.

State-level Institutions:

State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA)

• Headed by the Chief Minister of the respective state, SDMA lays down the policies and plans for disaster management in the state.
• It is responsible for  coordinating and  implementing  the State disaster management  Plan, recommending the provision of funds for mitigation and preparedness measures and reviewing the developmental plans of the different departments of the state to ensure integration of prevention, preparedness and mitigation measures.

District level Institutions

District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA)

• Section 25 of the DM Act provides for the constitution of DDMA for every district of a state.
• The District Magistrate/ District Collector/Deputy Commissioner heads the Authority as Chairperson.

Israel and Morocco sign a defence deal

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Israel and Morocco have signed a landmark agreement that lays the foundation for security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and future arms sales.

• The memorandum of understanding between Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and his Moroccan counterpart Abdellatif Loudiyi was signed  on 24 November 2021 in Rabat, as part of the first official visit by an Israeli defence minister to one of the Arab states that normalised ties last year.
• Morocco, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan signed agreements to normalise relations  with Israel in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, which were brokered by the Trump administration.
• The Abraham Accords broke a longstanding consensus among Arab states that  normalisation  with Israel only takes place as part of a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
•  Capital Of Morocco : Rabbat 

Currency of Morocco : Moroccan dirham

Biden invites Taiwan to its online Summit on Democracy

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China has reacted sharply to the U.S president Biden inviting Taiwan for its first ever “Summit for Democracy” scheduled to  take place online  December 9 and 10 ,2021.

It is being organised by the State Department of the United States government .  Foreign ministry in United States is called as State Department 

U.S. President Joe Biden has invited Taiwan, along with more than 100 countries, for a virtual summit.

Highlights:

• The summit is part of Biden's foreign policy agenda, which includes efforts to reassert the United States as a leader on the global stage 
• The U.S has not invited its chief rival countries, China and Russia who are not considered as a democracy .
• Even though the US does not recognise Taiwan as an independent country, it invited Taiwan. The US takes up Taiwan as a model democracy.

Why is China opposed to this and One China Policy

• The Chinese government  believes the invitation to Taiwan is against the “One China Policy” agreed upon by the U.S 
• Formosa or now called Taiwan was founded by the  Kuomintang led government of the Republic of China in 1949 after it lost the Chinese civil war with the Communist party led by Mao. The Chinese Communist party captured mainland China and  formed the People's Republic of China in 1949.
• Both Taiwan and Communist China claim to be the real China .
• The ‘One China’ policy is a requirement for any nation to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.It asks that Beijing be recognised as the sole legal government of China and that Taiwan is a part of Chinese territory.
• Almost all countries in the world accept that Taiwan is a province of China but many countries including the US don't say whether it recognizes the claim of Communist  China.
• China opposes any move which it thinks gives prominence to Taiwan on the international stage. 

Jaishankar to represent India at SCO The Head of the Government (CHG) council meeting

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• The 20th Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG)  was held in Nur-Sultan in virtual format under the chairmanship of Kazakhstan.
• Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar will represent India at the meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), where the leaders are likely to deliberate on a range of issues, including Afghanistan.

Highlights:

• The meeting is expected to deliberate on a range of pressing regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan.
• The SCO-CHG meeting is held annually and focuses on the trade and economic agenda of the bloc and to approve its annual budget.
• The executive director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), Turkmenistan and other invited guests are also expected to attend the meeting.
• India is actively engaged in various SCO activities/dialogue mechanisms in the region as well as other multilateral cooperation within the SCO framework.

About SCO:

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact, is an Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance.
• The SCO is the successor to the Shanghai Five, a mutual security agreement formed in 1996 between China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. Later Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan were admitted to the mechanism and the Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was signed.
• Formation: 15th June 2001
• Headquarters: Beijing, China
• Members: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan

Note: 

SCO’s Head of the State Council meeting is different from the Head of the Government Council meeting. 

The Head of the State  Council  is the supreme decision making body of the SCO and its meeting is held once in a year.The 21st Head of the State Council meeting was held in Dushanbe, Capital Tajikistan on 17th September 2021. India is represented by the Prime Minister in the meeting .

The Head of the Government Council is the second highest council in the organisation and ist meeting is held once in a year. They discuss the budget of the organisation and various economic issues.

Normally a representative of the Prime Minister attends the meeting .

This year, foreign minister S. Jaishankar represented India. 

Mahmudullah Riyad retires from Test Cricket

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Bangladesh’s Mahmudullah Riyad announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday after a 12-year career.  He is currently the Bangladesh T-20 team captain.

Sputnik light Covid vaccine to be launched in India by December.

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The Russian-made one-shot Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine will be launched in India by December 2021.

Sputnik Light vaccine is based on human adenovirus serotype 26, which is the first component of the Sputnik V Vaccine. The vaccine is considered a highly effective vaccine when used both on a standalone basis and applied as a booster, according to reports.

Indian Navy to commission submarine INS Vela.

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• Indian Navy commissions 4th Scorpene-class submarine  INS Vela in Mumbai in the presence of the chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh.
• It was built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, Mumbai  in collaboration with M/s Naval Group of France.

Project 75 or P-75 

• In 2005, India and France signed a $ 3.75 billion contract for building six  diesel-electric  Scorpene class submarines in India.
• The submarine is being built by the  Public Sector, Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Mumbai and the technology provider is the French company DCNS, which is now called Naval Group.
• The first submarine INS Kalvari was commissioned in 2017 and hence it is also called as Kalvari class of submarine in India.

Other submarines in the P-75 are 

• INS Khanderi
• INS Karanj
• INS Vela
•  INS Vagir,
•  INS Vagsheer

INS Vagir is undergoing sea trials and INS Vagsheer is under construction.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

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Theme of this year :- "Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now!"

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution  in 1993  to celebrate 25 November as the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Place in the news

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• New Delhi - 5th edition of the World Congress on Disaster Management was  held at IIT Delhi.
• Nur-Sultan - It is the capital of Kazakhstan . It was earlier called Astana . The 20th Shanghai Cooperation Organization  Head of the  Government (CHG) council meeting was held here 

Books and Authors

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The Nutmeg Curse 

Author : Amitav Ghosh

The other notable works of AmitavGhosh are: The Shadow Lines, The Glass Palace, Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, The Hungry Tide.