UniFocus IAS ( UNIFOCUS UNIVERSAL )

The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI)  increased by 8.0  per cent (provisional) in July 2023 as compared to the Index of July 2022. The production of Coal, Steel, Natural Gas, Cement, Electricity, Refinery Products, Fertilizers and Crude Oil increased in July 2023 over the corresponding month of last year. Details of annual and monthly indices and growth rates are provided at Annex I & II respectively. ICI measures combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries viz. Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity. The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). Final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for April 2023 is revised to 4.6  per cent  from its provisional level 3.5  per cent . The cumulative growth rate of ICI during April to July, 2023-24 reported 6.4  per cent  (provisional) as compared to the corres

  C-TAP was launched in May 2020 by the WHO and the Government of Costa Rica with the support of 44 Member States, UN Development Programme, Unitaid, UNAIDS, and implementing partners such as MPP.  It works under the principles of the   Solidarity call to action   and was designed to serve as a platform for developers of COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines and other health products to voluntarily share their intellectual property, knowledge, and data to accelerate technological innovation and expand global production capacity.  C-TAP was acknowledged as an important tool  in the 2021 “ Local Production Resolution”  to facilitate sustainable access to quality-assured, safe, effective and affordable medicines and other health technologies. Furthermore, it has played an important role in raising awareness of the role of technology and knowledge sharing and access-oriented voluntary licensing.  C-TAP has also established a Technology Access Pool database that provides a searchable

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) is a multilateral financing mechanism that relies on public and private contributions on a three-year replenishment cycle. The Global Fund is a partnership between donor countries, the private sector and private foundations, implementing governments, civil society, international organizations, and affected communities. This partnership governs, oversees and implements the Global Fund’s strategic vision of ending HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria while building resilient and sustainable systems for health, inherently strengthening country capacity to detect and respond to acute outbreaks and disease threats. Programs delivered with Global Fund dollars thereby also contribute to enhancing global health security and protecting America’s borders. About  The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria About  The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria  ( US Department of State )

Kolkata Metro Railway, India’s first Metro built by Indian Railways on 24th October 1984, has been serving as a lifeline for Kolkata, the city of Joy for nearly 40 long years. In Kolkata Metro Railway, the power to Metro Rake is supplied to rolling stock at 750V DC through steel Third Rail. The Third Rail Current Collector (TRCC) made of steel fitted on metro rake collects the current from Third Rail. Kolkata Metro Railway using steel Third Rail for the last 40 years. Kolkata  Metro Railway has now decided to use composite Aluminium Third Rail in all the upcoming corridors being undertaken for construction along with retro fitment in existing corridor with steel Third Rail. With this Metro Railway,  Kolkata would become the member of elite club of London, Moscow, Berlin, Munich, and Istanbul Metro who have also shifted from steel Third Rail to Aluminium Third Rail. In this regard, Metro Railway Kolkata has floated a tender for replacement of existing Third Rail, in the first phase to c

It was launched  under  Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP). RETAP was established to take bilateral collaboration further with a result-oriented, time-bound technology-focus. It is intended to advance new and emerging renewable technologies with a view toward deployment and scaling. RETAP’s initial focus is to be on green/clean hydrogen, wind energy, long duration energy storage, and to explore geothermal energy, ocean/tidal energy and other emerging technologies as mutually determined in the future. DOE and MNRE outlined an initial workplan regarding RETAP collaboration. Work is guided by five themes: Research & Development Piloting & Testing of Innovative Technologies Advanced Training & Skill Development Policy and Planning for Advancing RET and enabling technologies Investment, Incubation and Outreach programmes PIB <<< About  U.S.-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP)

INTRODUCTION  Article 35A is a unique provision of the Constitution of India. It is a part of the Constitution, but does not figure in the bare Act! One does not find Article 35A after Article 35 in the Constitution. Article 35 is followed by Article 36. But, 35A can be seen in Appendix i of the Constitution. It was conceived exclusively for the benefit of the State of Jammu and Kashmir through a Presidential Order issued in 1954. It empowers the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature to define the State's 'permanent residents' and their special rights and privileges. It was specially devised to save the State subject laws that had already been defined under the Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh's regime and notified in 1927 and 1932. However, this Article which came into force in 1954 without a place in the bare Act of the Constitution was unknown to the public. It came into limelight only when cases were filed in the apex court challenging its validity, thereby raising an

Statutory CRR Requirements  Banks are required to maintain a certain level of cash assets with The Reserve Bank of India at all times. The level of cash to maintain is computed from net liabilities of the bank, and known as the Cash Reserve Ratio. Earlier, in terms of section 42(1) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934, the scheduled PCBs were required to maintain with the RBI during the fortnight, a minimum average daily balance of 3% of their total demand and time liabilities (DTL) in India obtaining on the last Friday of the second preceding fortnight. Further, RBI was empowered to increase, through Gazette notification, the said rate up to 15% of the DTL. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (RBI Act, 1934) was amended by Parliament in June 2006 and the Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Bill, 2006 came into force with effect from April 1, 2007. As per the amendment, sub-section (1) of Section 42 of the RBI Act, 1934 was amended enabling the Reserve Bank, having regard to the

What is a supermoon? The Moon travels around our planet in an elliptical orbit, or an elongated circle, with Earth closer to one side of the ellipse. Each month, the Moon passes through the point closest to Earth (perigee) and the point farthest from Earth (apogee). When the Moon is at or near its closest point to Earth at the same time as it is full, it is called a “supermoon.” During this event, because the full moon is a little bit closer to us than usual, it appears especially large and bright in the sky. what is a blue moon? A blue moon is the term for when we see the full moon twice in a single month. The Moon's cycle is 29.5 days, so just a bit shorter than the average length of a calendar month. Eventually that gap results in a full moon happening at the beginning of a month with enough days still remaining for another full cycle ― so a second full moon in the same month. In other words, a full moon that happens on the 1st or 2nd of a month will probably be followed by a se

The  Fujiwhara effect , sometimes referred to as the  Fujiwara effect ,  Fujiw(h)ara interaction  or  binary interaction , is a phenomenon that occurs when two nearby  cyclonic   vortices  move around each other and close the distance between the circulations of their corresponding  low-pressure areas . The effect is named after  Sakuhei Fujiwhara , the Japanese meteorologist who initially described the effect. Binary interaction of smaller circulations can cause the development of a larger cyclone, or cause two cyclones to merge into one.  Extratropical cyclones  typically engage in binary interaction when within 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of one another, while  tropical cyclones  typically interact within 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) of each other. When two hurricanes spinning in the same direction pass close enough to each other, they begin an intense dance around their common center. If one hurricane is a lot stronger than the other, the smaller one will orbit it and eventually come

  Aditya L1    is a planned  coronagraphy  spacecraft to study  solar atmosphere , currently being designed and developed by the  Indian Space Research Organisation  (ISRO) and various other Indian research institutes.  It will be inserted in a  halo orbit  around the  L1 point  between the  Earth  and the  Sun  where it will study the solar atmosphere,  solar magnetic storms  and its impact on environment around  Earth . Aditya L1 shall be the first space based Indian mission to study the Sun. The spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth. A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses. This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time. The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and t

Bharat NCAP(New Car Assessment Programme) launched The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) LCA Tejas successfully test-fires indigenous ASTRA Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missile off Goa coast New financing tool aims to increase access to lifesaving mosquito nets WHO launches a new Global Initiative on Digital Health supported by the G20 Presidency

The programme aims to provide a tool to the car customers to make a comparative assessment of crash safety of motor vehicles available in the market.  Under this programme, car manufacturers can voluntarily offer their cars tested as per Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 197. Based on the performance of the car in the tests, car will be awarded star ratings for Adult Occupants (AOP) and Child Occupant (COP). Potential car customers can refer to these star ratings to compare the safety standards of different vehicles and accordingly make their purchase-decision. It is expected that the demand for safer cars will increase, encouraging the car manufacturers to comply with customer needs. With high safety standards, Indian cars will be able to compete better in the global market, increasing the export potential of the car manufacturers in India. The programme is expected to develop a safety sensitive car market in India. PIB ET Auto

  The NCF-SE's comprehensive nature ensures that it covers all stages of schooling. It sets clear learning standards and competencies, enabling teachers to foster critical thinking, creativity, and genuine understanding. The framework empowers educators, encourages engaging pedagogies, and emphasizes the importance of school culture and values. Art Education, Physical Education & Well-being, Environmental Education, and Vocational Education are reinvigorated under the NCF-SE. Multilingualism, conceptual understanding in Mathematics, and capacities for scientific inquiry also receive renewed attention. The curriculum's interdisciplinary approach encourages students to study the relationships between individuals, society, and the environment. The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) is the curriculum framework for the 5+3+3+4 design of schooling as proposed by the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020). It also recommended the formulation of a new an

  Tejas, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) LSP-7 successfully fired the ASTRA indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile off the coast of Goa on August 23, 2023. The missile release was successfully carried out from the aircraft at an altitude of about 20,000 ft. All the objectives of the test were met and it was a perfect text book launch. The test launch was monitored by the Test Director and scientists of Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) along with officials from Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC) and Directorate General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DG-AQA). The aircraft was also monitored by a Chase Tejas twin seater aircraft. ASTRA, a state-of-the-art BVR air-to-air missile to engage and destroy highly maneuvering supersonic aerial targets, is designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI

The so-called Revolving Facility is an initiative of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a UN partner that invests $4 billion annually to stamp out these deadly diseases and strengthen health systems in more than 100 countries. The Revolving Facility will negotiate improved supply terms for health products using advanced market commitments, including volume guarantees, to drive more affordable access and innovations at greater scale. The Revolving Facility was established with an initial commitment of $100 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The first agreement will be with Swiss company Vestergaard for its new dual active ingredient (Dual AI) insecticide-treated mosquito nets, which are more effective against insecticide-resistant mosquitoes than conventional nets. UN

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the G20 India presidency announced a new   Global Initiative on Digital Health   (GIDH) today at the Health Minister’s Meeting of the G20 Summit hosted by the Government of India. The new GIDH initiative (pronounced “guide” for short) will operate as a WHO-managed network and platform to support the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025. WHO serves as the Secretariat for the strategy implementation to converge and convene global standards, best practices and resources to fast track digital health system transformation. The GIDH initiative aims to bring countries and partners together to achieve measurable outcomes by: developing clear priority-driven investment plans for digital health transformation; improving reporting and transparency of digital health resources; facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration across regions and countries to accelerate progress; supporting whole-of-government approaches for digita

Part A: Rohini Commission report on OBC subcategorisation Recommendations Parliamentary Panel Suggests Reduced age to contest polls to 18 yrs Part B: FSO SAFER IDFC FIRST Bank’s FIRSTAP - India’s first stick-tap-pay solution Einstein cross What's the difference between a heart attack, cardiac arrest and heart failure? North India's first River Rejuvenation Project Devika

Paleoclimate proxies are physical, chemical and biological materials preserved within the geologic record (in paleoclimate archives) that can be analyzed and correlated with climate or environmental parameters in the modern world. Scientists combine proxy-based paleoclimate reconstructions with instrumental records (such as thermometer and rain gauge readings) to expand our understanding of climate variability to times before humans began measuring these things. These reconstructions of past climate and environment span all timescales, from year-to-year variations to those that occurred over millions of years. These data help us understand how the Earth's climate system varied both before and after human alteration of the landscape. The use of a proxy to reconstruct past climate requires an understanding of how that proxy is related to some aspect of climate. For example, some proxies, such as atmospheric gases trapped in glacial ice (e.g., carbon dioxide and methane), provide a re

Watermelons Cultivated in Vostok Station Lunar Codex Western Tragopan Interstellar space and Interstellar Probes ( Voyager and New Horizons Missions ) Parliament Passes Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023 Implementation of Time of Day Electricity Tariff System

In an astonishing feat of agriculture, scientists have cultivated watermelons in Antarctica. This is a joint achievement of  Russian Antarctic Expedition of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), Agrophysical Research Institute and the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since it is seemingly inhospitable for cultivation, scientists have created artificial environment to mimic natural conditions for the growth of plant.  In place of Sun Light, they used specialized lighting arrangement to mimic natural Sun Light. Since natural polinators are absent, they have to manually polinate the seeds. Korean scientists achieved watermelon cultivation at the King Sejong Station in West Antarctica in 2021. About Watermelon: Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 vari

1. It is a project supervised by Samuel Peralta, who is a physicist and art collector from Canada. 2. It involves digitizing and storing art works across borders in memory cards or laser-etched on NanoFiche ( An updated version of Microfiche). 3. This archive include art works gathered from 30000 artists, writers, film-makers and musicians from 157 countries wich include images, objects, magazines, books, podcasts, movies and music. 4. The first such capsule is known as the Orion collection, which has already flown around the moon when it launched on the Orion spacecraft as part of NASA’s Artemis 1 mission last year. 5. In the coming months, a series of lunar landers will take the Lunar Codex capsules to various  destinations in craters at the moon’s South Pole  and a lunar plain called Sinus Viscositatis. The Guardian

Relevance:  Facing existential crisis, Western Tragopan sees a glimmer of hope in Himachal Pradesh for its survival - The Hindu The Western tragopan (Tragopan melanocephalus) considered to be the rarest of all extant pheasants, is endemic to north-western Himalayas They are medium-sized montane pheasants with a high level of dimorphism displayed by the sexes (Johnsgard, 1986). The bird has long been associated with the cultural heritage of the locals and has been named “Jujurana” meaning the “King of Birds”.  Taxonomy  Class: Aves  Order: Galliformes  Family: Phasianidae  Genus: Tragopan  Species: melanocephalus Tragopans are a group of the five pheasant species belonging to the genus Tragopan Cuvier, 1829 (Phasianidae) with unresolved phylogeny. Distribution: The species is endemic to the western Himalayas, occurring from Indus-Kohistan district, north Pakistan, east through Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to Bhagirathi River in Uttarakhand, north-western India .   Habitat: The species i

Interstellar Space: Interstellar space is often called the space between the stars, but more specifically, it’s the region between our Sun’s heliosphere and the astrospheres of other stars. Our heliosphere is a vast bubble of plasma – a gas of charged particles – that spews out of the Sun. This outflow is known as the solar wind. The bubble surrounds the Sun and stretches beyond the planets. Both Voyager spacecraft had to travel more than 11 billion miles (17 billion kilometers) from the Sun in order to cross the edge of the heliosphere. This bubble is moving through interstellar space as the Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy. As our heliosphere plows through space, it creates a bow wave, like the wave formed by the bow of a ship. Kuiper Belt &  Oort Cloud: The Kuiper Belt is a doughnut-shaped ring of icy objects around the Sun, extending just beyond the orbit of Neptune from about 30 to 55 AU. Similar to the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt is a region of leftovers from