UPSC Important Topics

Recent Momentum: The Visits of Prime Minsters to Israel ✓P.M. visited Israel in July 2017, marking 25 years of exchange of emabssies. ✓A Memorandum of Understanding was signed for establishing the India-Israel Industrial R&D and Innovation Fund (I4F) by the Department of Science and Technology, India andthe National Authority for Technological Innovation, Israel with a […]

International Financial Services Centres Authority? ✓Establishment: It was established in April 2020 under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar in Gujarat. ✓Functions: The Authority shall regulate all such financial services, financial products and Financial Institutions in an IFSC. It may also recommend to the Central Government

Positive Side of Freebies in India ✓Foundation for Welfare Schemes: Freebies not only include unviable pre-election promises but also a number of services that the government provides to meet its constitutional obligations (Directive Principles of State Policy) towards citizens like Public Distribution System (PDS) , Free Covid Vaccine and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Government’s Initiatives: for Employment generation ✓Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE) ✓PM-DAKSH (Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi) ✓Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) ✓Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) ✓Start Up India Scheme.

✓The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, on December 11, 2019. ✓Commonly referred to as the “Privacy Bill”, it intended to protect individual rights by regulating the collection, movement, and processing of data that is personal, or which can identify the individual. Challenges:

What are the Initiatives Related to Food Security and Gender Equality? Global: ✓International Women’s Day (8th march) ✓UN Women ✓UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) ✓Sustainable Development Goal (2) of ‘Zero Hunger’. ✓World Food Programme (WFP) ✓Global Hunger Index Indian: ✓POSHAN Abhiyaan ✓Antoydaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ✓Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) ✓Mid-day Meal (MDM)

Kerala to have its own regional red list of birds- ✓Kerala will soon have its own red list of birds. ✓Once it gets ready, Kerala will be the first State to have a region-specific red list of birds. ● About the  Regional Bird Red list: ✓The Kerala Bird Monitoring Collective led by Kerala Agricultural University

India’s Initiatives: ( REDUCTION OF TOBACCO CONSUMPTION) ✓Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003: It replaced the Cigarettes Act of 1975 (largely limited to statutory warnings- ‘Cigarette Smoking is Injurious to Health’ to be displayed on cigarette packs and advertisements. It did not include non-cigarettes). The 2003 Act also included cigars, bidis, cheroots, pipe

What is financial institution ✓A financial institution is an umbrella term for a company dealing with financial and monetary transactions, including loans, deposits, and/or investments. ✓All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs) are regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank of India. Examples: ✓National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID)  ✓Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank)

The Chabahar Port ✓Trilateral Transit and Trade Agreement signed in May 2016 between India, Iran and Afghanistan. ✓Under the agreement signed between India and Iran in May 2016 , India is to equip and operate two berths in Chabahar Port Phase-I with capital investment of USD 85.21 million and annual revenue expenditure of USD 22.95