Daily Current Affairs : 1st and 2nd September 2023

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. OCCRP’s Adani Report
2. PLI Scheme
3. Simultaneous Elections:  
4. Special Session of Parliament:-  
5. National Mission for Clean Ganga 
6. Facts for Prelims

1 . OCCRP’s Adani Report

Context: A media investigation by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has brought forth further allegations regarding the Adani group.  

Background of the issue  

• On January 2023, The Hindenburg Research released its report alleging that the Adani group was engaged in a stock manipulation and accounting fraud.   
• Following the report, The Supreme Court combined various Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed regarding the issue into one case, and brought in SEBI the markets regulator to report on the allegations.  
• Supreme Court of India had directed the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to conduct investigations in accordance with specific terms of reference. The first term was to probe whether there has been a violation of Rule 19A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules 1957. 
• Two more terms were set by the apex court related to non-disclosure of related party transactions and the manipulation of stock prices in contravention of existing laws. In addition, a separate Expert Committee was formed to inter alia examine whether there has been a regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of laws by the Adani group. 
•  Now, a media investigation by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has brought forth further allegations. 

What is OCCRP? 

• The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents.  
• It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption.  
• It is an international NGO founded by Paul Radu and Drew Sullivan.  

Key Findings of OCCRP

• An investigation conducted by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), has found that two Mauritius based funds, namely the Emerging India Focus Fund (EIFF) and the EM Resurgent Fund (EMRF) had invested and traded in large volume of shares of four Adani companies between 2013 and 2018. 
• The money was channelled through a Bermuda-based investment fund called the Global Opportunities Fund (GOF). 
•  The OCCRP investigation has revealed that a UAE-based secretive firm named Excel Investment and Advisory Services Limited owned by Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani and member of Adani promoter group, had received over $1.4 million in “advisory” fees from management companies of EIFF, EMRF and GOF between June 2012 and August 2014. 
• If one adds the shareholding of Vinod Adani in three Adani companies — through offshore individuals and entities, with the disclosed promoter group shareholding of those companies — the promoter group shareholding of Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission stood at over 78% in January 2017. This would be in clear breach of the 75% threshold contained in 19A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules. 

What is Rule 19 A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules 1957:-  

• Rule 19A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Rules 1957, inserted through an amendment under “Continuous Listing Requirement”, stipulates that every company listed in the Indian stock market has to maintain at least 25 percent public shareholding. 
• “Public” is defined in the said Rules as persons other than “the promoter and promoter group” — defined as any spouse of that person, or any parent, brother, sister or child of the person or of the spouse, besides “subsidiaries or associates of the company”.  
• This 25 per cent minimum threshold for public shareholding vitally ensures that adequate shares of a listed company are available for trading in the stock market to enable price discovery. Violations of this rule indicate likely stock price manipulation and insider trading, jeopardizing the integrity of the equity market. 

2 . PLI Scheme

Context:- Asus, Dell, others apply for manufacturing laptops in India under the Production Linked Incentive Scheme.  

About the News

• The PLI for IT hardware such as laptops, tablets, all-in-one computers, and servers was first announced in February 2021 with an initial outlay of around Rs 7,300 crore over a period of four years. 
• The first version of the scheme was a laggard with only two companies – Dell and Bhagwati – managing to meet first year’s (FY22) targets, and the industry calling for a renewed scheme with an increased budgetary outlay. 
• Union Cabinet cleared a revised production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT (PLI 2.0) hardware with an outlay of Rs 17,000 crore, more than doubling the budget for the scheme that was first cleared in 2021. 
• As part of its renewed production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware, the Centre has received applications from 38 entities, including the likes of Asus, Dell, HP, and Foxconn that want to manufacture laptops, personal computers and servers in India. Apple, however, has opted to skip participation in the scheme. 
• The development comes weeks after the Centre imposed – and then postponed – a licensing requirement on the import of laptops and personal computers, which had set alarm bells ringing at major electronics hardware manufacturers. The move was deferred.  

What is the PLI Scheme? 

• The PLI Scheme was introduced to enhance the domestic manufacturing capability, with a focus on higher import substitution and employment generation.  
• The scheme initially focused on three segments : Mobile and allied Component Manufacturing; Electrical Component Manufacturing and Medical Devices. 
• Incentives for large scale Electronics Manufacturing : The scheme shall extend an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India, to eligible companies, for a period of five years after the base year. 
• The Scheme will be implemented through a Nodal Agency which shall act as a Project Management Agency.  

PLI 2.0

• The renewed scheme proposes financial incentive to attract large investments in the value chain.   
• Target segments under it includes- Laptops , Tablets, All-in-One PCs, and Servers.   
• Base Year: for the calculation of incremental sales would be financial year 2022-2023.  
• The average incentive over six years will be about 5 per cent of net incremental sales compared with the 2 per cent over four years offered earlier.  
• Companies that locally manufacture certain components including memory modules, solid state drives and display panels will also get additional incentives under the restructured scheme. 

Significance of the Scheme:-  

• Reduction of Imports– Even as India has identified electronics manufacturing as a key sector for future economic growth, India has seen an increase in imports of electronic goods and laptops/computers in the last few years. The import of electronic goods increased to $6.96 billion from $4.73 billion in the year-ago period, with a share of 4-7 per cent in overall imports.  
• Boost to local manufacturing as the scheme incentivises sourcing local components.  
• Reduce dependency on China- China accounts for roughly 70-80 per cent of the share of India’s imports of personal computers, laptops.  
• Foster Innovation– by establishing forward and backward linkages like the scheme will interplay with the semiconductor scheme of the government and put forth an ecosystem of IT Hardware.  
• Multiplier effect on the economy by generating direct and indirect employment. 

3 . Simultaneous Elections

Context:- Centre forms panel under former President Ram Nath Kovind for simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.  

Background of Simultaneous elections in India 

• First election after enforcement of constitution in 1952 was conducted simultaneously, and later the elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962 were also the same. 
• The liquidation of fourth Lok Sabha brought an end to the process. 
• The idea of reverting to simultaneous polls was mooted in the annual report of the Election Commission in 1983. The Law Commission’s Report also referred to it in 1999. 
• The push came ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in the BJP manifesto. After Prime Minister floated the idea once again in 2016, the Niti Aayog prepared a working paper on the subject in January 2017.  
• Recently Union government formed a committee  under the headship of former President of India Ram Nath Kovind, to look into the feasibility of simultaneous polls to State Assemblies and the Lok Sabha.  

About Simultaneous Elections

• The idea behind simultaneous elections is to streamline the electoral process by holding both national and state-level elections at the same time. 
• Currently, India conducts elections almost every year, with some state elections happening in between Lok Sabha elections. This constant cycle of elections is resource-intensive, disrupts governance, and can lead to a lack of focus on policy implementation. 
• Simultaneous elections seek to address these issues by ensuring that the electoral process is more predictable and efficient. 
• It will involve restructuring of the Indian election cycle in a manner that elections to the states and the centre synchronise. This would also mean that the voters will cast their vote for electing members of the LS and the state assemblies on a single day, at the same time (or in a phased manner as the case may be). 

Advantages 

• Saving time and energy: A lot of money and time is being spent on elections. The money could be put to better use. The focus of respective parties is on winning elections in different parts of the country rather than on actual governance. Violence, hate speeches and surcharged atmosphere can disturb the law and order situations . 
• Focus on Governance: The system will help ruling parties focus on governance instead of being constantly in election mode.  
• Less promotion of individualism over nationalism: Parties, in order to win hearts near the time of elections, declare individualistic policies to lure the voters and not the nationalistic policies. The spirit of policy making gets hampered. Simultaneous elections would stop this. 
• Smaller role of corruption, casteism: Party funding would not be required again and again, which would reduce manipulative practices of the parties to raise money. Caste politics won’t be ignited every time elections are round the corner. 
• Model code of conduct (MCC): Political parties wouldn’t make unnecessary measures to win elections in the wake of MCC. Frequent imposition of MCC results in standstill of the government machinery, thus hindering development and policy implementation. 
• Increase in voting percentage: It has turned out in many researches that voters’ participation is motivated with simultaneous elections. Voting percentage is a serious concern. 

Disadvantages 

• Advantage to national parties: Regional parties gather their state machinery for the state legislative elections, whereas national parties will gain more momentum with their power in every state. 
• Constitutional Amendments needed: Holding simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies would require at least five constitutional amendments. The five amendments in the Constitution would entail changes to Article 83 relating to the duration of Houses of Parliament, Article 85 relating to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha by the President, Article 172 relating to the duration of the State legislatures, Article 174 relating to dissolution of the State legislatures, and Article 356 relating to the imposition of President’s Rule in States.  
• National issues over regional ones: National issues may overpower the regional ones which are equally important to be looked upon. Submerging of regional stories with national issues may create havoc. 
• Federal structure would be disturbed: The party in power at the Centre may exercise such powers which may hamper the working of parties in power at state levels. 
• Shortage of staff and security: One election in all levels at a time would require large deployment of forces and resources together for secure and smooth functioning, which would be a big challenge. The ignited election mode would require high security.  
• Logistics issues – The logistics challenges of holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies — arranging around 30 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines.  
• Disturbance in system of checks and balances: In a federal structure, the state governments and the central governments, especially when from opposite parties, check each other’s work and evaluate it. This competitive spirit may be curtailed and a lethargic attitude may crawl into working of these governments. 
• Reduction of Accountability: Since elections will be held once in every five years, it will reduce the government’s accountability to the people. Repeated elections keep legislators on their toes and increases accountability. 

Recommendations of Reports and Committees 

• The idea of ‘One Nation, One Election’ was suggested by the Election Commission in 1983. The main reason for such a suggestion was heavy expenditure on elections, deployment of forces affecting their normal course of duties, slowing down of administrative machinery throughout the country etc. 
• In 1999, Law Commission in its 170th report suggested that India go back to the concept of simultaneous elections. 
• Report of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) in 2002 highlighted that amendments with respect to simultaneous elections could be done without disturbing the basic structure of the constitution. 
• The 255th Law Commission report discussed amendment to Anti-Defection Law, which is an important subject with respect to simultaneous elections. 
• The 79th report presented by Rajya Sabha in December 2015, after consulting various political parties, organisations, individuals and experts, suggested various reforms and conducts. It held that the term of legislatures could not be extended, except during emergency, but elections of Lok Sabha/State Legislative Assemblies could be conducted six months earlier under Section 14 and 15 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951. It also suggested conducting of elections in two phases where some state legislative elections are conducted for a shorter term to end their tenure with the tenure of Lok Sabha. 
• Recently, the Law Commission headed by B.S. Chouhan released a draft report on simultaneous election : 
• Conduct of simultaneous elections: The Commission noted that simultaneous elections cannot be held within the existing framework of the Constitution.  Simultaneous elections may be conducted to Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies through appropriate amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act 1951, and the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.  The Commission also suggested that at least 50% of the states should ratify the constitutional amendments.  
• The Commission noted that holding simultaneous elections will: (i) save public money, (ii) reduce burden on the administrative setup and security forces, (iii) ensure timely implementation of government policies, and (iv) ensure that the administrative machinery is engaged in development activities rather than electioneering. 
• Commission recommended three alternatives to synchronise elections in India : 
• Advancing or Postponing elections in certain states so that elections are only conducted twice in near feature and can move to one election by 2024 
• If simultaneous elections cannot be conducted, then the Commission recommended that all elections falling due in a calendar year should be conducted together. 

4 . Special Session of Parliament

Context: The government has announced a ‘Special Session of Parliament’ from Sept 18-22.  
 
About The News  

• Recently , the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, announced that a “special session” of Parliament would be held from September 18 to 22. The Minister was quoted as stating that “important items” were on the session’s agenda, which the government would circulate shortly. 
• The announcement has led to speculation about the government’s legislative plans for the session.  
• Usually, a few days before a Parliament session, the government convenes an all-party meeting to share its agenda and build consensus on possible issues for discussion.  
   

When does Parliament meet? 

• India’s Parliament has no fixed calendar of sittings.  
• In 1955, a Lok Sabha committee had proposed a timetable for parliamentary sessions. It recommended that the Budget session of Parliament begin on February 1 and go on till May 7, and the Monsoon session start on July 15 and end on September 15. 
• The committee suggested that the Winter session, the last session of the year, commence on November 5 (or the fourth day after Diwali, whichever is later) and finish on December 22. 
• While the government agreed to this calendar, it was never implemented. 

Who decides when Parliament meets? 

• The government determines the date and duration of parliamentary sessions. 
•  The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs takes this decision. It currently has ten Ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, Agriculture, Tribal Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting 
• The Law Minister and the Minister of State for External Affairs are special invitees to the Committee. 
• The President is informed about the Committee’s decision, who then summons Members of Parliament to meet for the session. 

What does the Constitution say? 

• The Constitution specifies that six months should not elapse between two parliamentary sessions. 
•  This provision is a colonial legacy. The framers of the Constitution borrowed it from the Government of India Act of 1935. It allowed the British Governor General to call a session of the central legislature at his discretion, requiring that the gap between two sessions should not be more than 12 months 
• Dr B R Ambedkar stated that the purpose of summoning the central assembly was only to collect taxes, and the once-a-year meeting was for the government to avoid scrutiny by the legislature. The Constituent Assembly reduced the gap between sessions to six months 

How did the Constituent Assembly reach this decision? 

• Some members of the Constituent Assembly wanted Parliament to meet throughout the year with breaks in between.  
• Others wanted Parliament to sit for longer durations, and cited the examples of the British and American legislatures meeting for more than 100 days a year.  
• One member wanted the presiding officers of the two Houses to be empowered to convene Parliament under certain circumstances. 
• Dr Ambedkar did not accept these suggestions. He thought that independent India’s government would hold regular parliamentary sessions.  

How often do Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha meet? 

• Before independence, the central assembly met for a little more than 60 days a year. This number increased to 120 days a year in the first 20 years after Independence. Since then, the sitting days of the national legislature have declined. 
• Between 2002 and 2021, Lok Sabha averaged 67 working days. 
• The situation in state legislatures is much worse. In 2022, 28 state Assemblies met for 21 days on average.  
• This year, Parliament has met for 42 days so far. 
• On multiple occasions, the conference of presiding officers has recommended that Parliament should meet for more than 100 days 
• The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution set up in 2000 made a similar recommendation. 
• Individual MPs have introduced private member Bills that stipulated increased sitting days for Parliament.  
• The US Congress and parliaments of Canada, Germany, and the UK are in session throughout the year, and their calendar of sitting days is fixed at the beginning of the year. 

What is a special session of Parliament? 

• The Constitution does not use the term “special session”. The term sometimes refers to sessions the government has convened for specific occasions, like commemorating parliamentary or national milestones. 
• For the two Houses to be in session, the presiding officers should chair their proceedings. 
•  The presiding officers can also direct that the proceedings of their respective Houses would be limited and procedural devices like question hour would not be available to MPs during the sessio. 
• Article 352 (Proclamation of Emergency) of the Constitution does refer to a “special sitting of the House”. 
• Parliament added the part relating to the special sitting through the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978. Its purpose was to add safeguards to the power of proclaiming Emergency in the country 
• It specifies that if a Proclamation of Emergency is issued and Parliament is not in session, then one-tenth of Lok Sabha MPs can ask the President to convene a special meeting to disapprove the Emergency. 

5 . National Mission for Clean Ganga 

Context: Treatment plants capable of treating just 20% of sewage spewing into the river set up so far ; National Mission for Clean Ganga hopes to increase this to 33% by 2024 and 60% by 2026; Centre says it will only build capacity for 7,000 MLD, States must set up the rest.  

About Ganga

• The Ganga is a trans-boundary river which flows through India and Bangladesh.  
• It rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It flows south and east through the Gangetic plain of North India, receiving the right-bank tributary, the Yamuna, which also rises in the western Indian Himalayas, and several left-bank tributaries from Nepal that account for the bulk of its flow. 
• The Ganga continues into Bangladesh, its name changing to the Padma. It is then joined by the Jamuna, the lower stream of the Brahmaputra, and eventually the Meghna, forming the major estuary of the Ganges Delta, and emptying into the Bay of Bengal. 
• The Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna system is the second-largest river on earth by discharge. 
• The Ganga basin is the largest river basin in India in terms of catchment area, constituting 26% of the country’s land mass and supporting about 43% of its population
• The basin covers 11 states viz., Uttarakhand, U.P., M.P., Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Delhi. 

About National Mission for Clean Ganga

• The National Clean Ganga Mission (NMCG) is a flagship programme developed by the National Council for the Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of the Ganga River, also known as the National Ganga Council.
• National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986. NGRBA has since been dissolved with effect from the 7th October 2016, consequent to constitution of National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga
• The Government of India established the body to encourage a coordinated effort by the listed states to tackle the contamination of the Ganga River by offering financial and technological assistance.
• At national level NMCG is the coordinating body and is being supported by States Level Program Management Groups (SPMGs) of UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal which, are also registered as societies under Societies Registration Act, 1860 and a dedicated Nodal Cell in Jharkhand. 
• The area of operation of NMCG shall be the Ganga River Basin, including the states through which Ganga flows, as well as the National Capital Territory of Delhi.  
• The area of operation may be extended, varied or altered in future, by the Governing Council to such other states through which major tributaries of the river Ganga flow, and as the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) may decide for the purpose of effective abatement of pollution and conservation of the river Ganga. 

Objectives of the National Clean Ganga Mission

• The vision for Ganga Rejuvenation is to restore the integrity of the river, by achieving “Aviral Dhara” (Continuous Flow), “Nirmal Dhara” (Unpolluted Flow) and ensuring geological and ecological integrity.
• NMCG works towards ensuring a successful reduction of contamination and revitalization of the Ganga River by implementing a river basin strategy that encourages cross-sectoral cooperation for holistic planning and maintenance. It also ensures minimum biological flows into the Ganga River with a view to maintaining water quality and ecologically responsible growth.

Structure of the National Ganga Council

The Environmental Protection Act calls for a five-tier system at national, state and district level to take steps to eliminate, monitor and mitigate acid pollution in the Ganga River and ensure a consistent and sufficient flow of water to reinvigorate the Ganga River.

• National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.
• Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation).
• National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)
• State Ganga Committees
• District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.

What are the steps taken to clean Ganga by NMCG?

• Ganga Action Plan: It was announced by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in 1985. This can be considered the first River Action Plan to improve the quality of Ganga water through the interposing, digression and treatment of domestic wastewater. The plan was designed to prevent harmful industrial chemical waste from entering the river.
• National River Conservation Plan: This is an extension of the Ganga Action Plan aimed at covering all the major rivers in India.
• National River Ganga Basin Authority (NRGBA): The National River Ganga Basin Authority, under the supervision of the Prime Minister of India, was created by the Central Government in 2009 pursuant to Section 3 of the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. The Ganga was declared the ‘National River’ of India.
• A Government clean-up initiative was launched in 2010 to prevent untreated municipal sewage or industrial runoff from entering the river.
• Ganga Manthan – A national conference was organized in 2014 to address problems and potential approaches for river cleaning. The operation was coordinated by the National Clean Ganga Project.
• In 2014, the Clean Ganga Fund was also set up to clean up the Ganga River, set up sewage treatment plants, protect the ecology of the river and improve public infrastructure (such as Ghat renovation, research and development and creative projects). Its budget would also be used to support the National Clean Ganga Group (NMCG).
• In 2017, the National Green Tribunal prohibited the disposal of any waste in Ganga.

Current Status of the project:- 

• In the seven years since the government unveiled its ambitious ₹20,000-crore National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), it has installed treatment plants capable of treating just 20% of the sewage estimated to be generated in the five major States that lie along the river. 
• This is expected to increase to about 33% by 2024. 
• According to the latest projections by senior officials in the NMCG, the treatment plants will be capable of treating 60% of sewage by December 2026. 
• the NMCG plans on setting up sewage treatment plants (STPs) capable of treating about 7,000 MLD of sewage by 2026; the States are expected to set up the remaining capacity, both on their own, and drawing on separate initiatives by other arms of the Union government. 
• Projects to set up STPs and sewerage networks are at the heart of the mission and account for about 80% of the overall project outlay. As of July 2023, STPs capable of treating 2,665 MLD have actually been commissioned, and are now functional. 
• Uttarakhand has the highest number number of plants that have been set up or upgraded in the case of older plants (36) followed by Uttar Pradesh (35), and West Bengal (11). 
• The NMCG is a ₹20,000-crore mission,however, the government has so far given in-principle approval for projects worth ₹37,396 crore, of which only ₹14,745 crore has been released to the States for infrastructure work.  
• The river’s water quality is now within “prescribed limits of notified primary bathing water quality” as per an NMCG fact-sheet. 
• Another conspicuous sign of the improvement in water quality along the Ganga was the rise in dolphin population from 2,000 to about 4,000.  
• Fishermen are also reporting the increased presence of Indian carp [a fish species] that only thrives in clean water 
• he is no is no is now working to develop a water quality index, on the lines of the air quality index, to be able to better communicate about river-water  

6 . Facts for Prelims

Technical Textiles

• Technical textiles are textile materials and products that are designed and engineered for specific functional purposes rather than traditional clothing or decorative uses. 
•  These textiles are created with advanced materials and technologies to provide specialized performance characteristics.  
• Some common applications of technical textiles include: 
• Geotextiles: Used in civil engineering for soil stabilization, drainage, and erosion control. 
• Medical Textiles: Including materials used in bandages, surgical gowns, and wound dressings. 
• Automotive Textiles: Such as airbags, seatbelts, and upholstery with flame-resistant properties. 
• Protective Clothing: Including firefighter suits, bulletproof vests, and chemical-resistant garments. 
• Aerospace Textiles: Used in aircraft components like seating, insulation, and safety equipment. 
• Agrotextiles: Used in agriculture for crop protection, shading, and greenhouse coverings. 
• Sports Textiles: Including materials used in sportswear, tents, and outdoor gear. 
• Smart Textiles: Incorporating electronic components for purposes like monitoring vital signs or providing heating. 
• Construction Textiles: Such as scaffolding nets and tensioned fabric structures. 
• Filters and Screens: Used in air and liquid filtration systems. 
• These textiles often require special properties such as durability, strength, resistance to extreme conditions (heat, chemicals, etc.), or functionality (e.g., conductivity or insulation). They play a crucial role in various industries and applications due to their versatility and performance-enhancing qualities. 
• The government has introduced the National Mission for Technical Textiles for developing on usage of technical textiles in various flagship missions, programmes of the country including strategic sectors.  

Ashtadhyayi 

• Written more than 2,000 years ago, the ‘Ashtadhyayi’ is a linguistics text that set the standard for how Sanskrit was meant to be written and spoken.
• It delves deep into the language’s phonetics, syntax and grammar, and also offers a ‘language machine’, where you can feed in the root and suffix of any Sanskrit word, and get grammatically correct words and sentences in return.
• Authored by Sanskrit philologist and scholar Pāṇini and dated to around 500 BCE, it describes the language as current in his time, specifically the dialect and register of an élite of model speakers, referred to by Pāṇini himself as śiṣṭa. 
•  The work also accounts both for some features specific to the older Vedic form of the language, as well as certain dialectal features current in the author’s time.  
• The Aṣṭādhyāyī employs a derivational system to describe the language, where real speech is derived from posited abstract utterances formed by means of affixes added to bases under certain conditions.  
• The Aṣṭādhyāyī is supplemented by three ancillary texts: akṣarasamāmnāya, dhātupāṭha  and gaṇapāṭha. 

Deemed to be University: 

• “Deemed to be University” refers to higher education institutions that have been granted special status by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to operate as universities, even though they may not meet all the criteria of a traditional full-fledged university. 
• They enjoy a certain level of autonomy in terms of designing their academic programs and curriculum. They have the authority to confer degrees at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. 
• Degrees awarded by Deemed to be Universities are recognized by the government of India and are considered equivalent to degrees from traditional universities. 
• The first institute to be granted deemed university status was Indian Institute of Science which was granted this status on 12 May 1958. 
• The state with the most deemed universities is Tamil Nadu with 28 universities having deemed status.  

Ramon Magsasay Award

•  It is an annual award instituted to honour former Philippine President Ramon Magsasay.
• The prize was established in 1957 by the trustees of Rockfeller Brothers Fund based in New York City. 
• It is often called “the Nobel Prize of Asia”  
• It is awarded for outstanding contributions in government service, public service, Journalism , Literature. 
• Prominent Indians who have won the award include Vinoba Bhave in 1958, Mother Teresa in 1962, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay in 1966, Satyajit Ray in 1967, Mahasweta Devi in 1997.  In recent years, Arvind Kejriwal (2006), Anshu Gupta of Goonj (2015), human rights activist Bezwada Wilson (2016), and journalist Ravish Kumar (2019). 

RAMBHA-LP

• It is a payload onboard Chandrayaan-3 lander. 
• It stands for Radio Astronomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere- Langmuir Probe. 
• It has carried out the first in-situ measurements of the surface-bound lunar plasma environment over the south polar region of the moon.  
• Langmuir probe is a device used for characterising a plasma. 
• Development of RAMBHA-LP was led by Space Physics Laboratory , Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram .  

Irving Langmuir

• He was an American chemist, physicist and engineer. 
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1932 for his work in surface chemistry. 
• He was one of the first scientists to work with plasmas. 
• He alongwith Tonks discovered electron density waves. 

 Sagar Parikrama IV

• It is an initiative aiming to resolve the issues of fishermen and other stakeholders. 
• It further aims to facilitate their economic upliftment through various schemes and programs implemented by Government. 
• The phase IV of the scheme started in Karnataka. During the event , certificates related to Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Scheme, KCC and State Schemes shall be awarded to the progressive fishermen.