he President has commuted death sentences to life imprisonment in at least 20 cases over the past nine years, based on the recommendations received from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Clemency powers of the President under article 72:

It says that the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.

Pardon –A pardon completely absolves the offender from all sentences and punishment and disqualifications and places him in the same position as if he had never committed the offence.
Commutation– Commutation means exchange of one thing for another. In simple words to replace the punishment with less severe punishment. For example for Rigorous imprisonment-simple imprisonment.
Reprieve– Reprieve means temporary suspension of death sentence. For example- pending a proceeding for pardon or commutation.
Respite – Respite means awarding a lesser punishment on some special grounds. For example- the Pregnancy of women offender.
Remissions– Remission means the reduction of the amount of sentence without changing its character, for example, a sentence of 1 year may be remitted to 6 months.

The President can exercise these powers:

In all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court-martial;
In all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offense against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;
In all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, UNDP India Jointly Launch Youth Co:Lab to accelerate youth-led social entrepreneurship and innovation in India.

How it works?

Youth Co:Lab will convene social innovation challenges at the national and sub-national level, which will invite young people in the age group of 18-29 years and start-ups to showcase their proposed ideas and solutions to tackle some of the region’s biggest social challenges.
Through Youth Co:Lab, young entrepreneurs and innovators will get a chance to connect with governments, mentors, incubators and investors, who will help equip them with entrepreneurial skills.

The first phase of Youth Co:Lab will focus on six SDGs:

SDG 5 (Gender Equality).
SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).
SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy).
SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).
SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production).
SDG 13 (Climate Action).

What is Youth Co: Lab initiative?

It is an innovative platform for young people to explore their ideas and potentials, and bring to scale viable solutions, to accelerate India’s progress on the SDGs.

Co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation.

Operational in 25 countries across the Asia Pacific region.

Aims to create an enabling ecosystem to promote youth leadership, innovation, and social entrepreneurship.

FSSAI launches ‘Trans-Fat Free’ logo.

This marked an important milestone in the movement against Trans-Fats and also provided a momentum to accelerate the ‘Eat Right India’ movement of FSSAI.

What are Trans fats?

Trans fatty acids (TFAs) or Trans fats are the most harmful type of fats which can have much more adverse effects on our body than any other dietary constituent.
These fats are largely produced artificially but a small amount also occurs naturally. Thus in our diet, these may be present as Artificial TFAs and/ or Natural TFAs.
Artificial TFAs are formed when hydrogen is made to react with the oil to produce fats resembling pure ghee/butter.
In our diet the major sources of artificial TFAs are the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (PHVO)/vanaspati/ margarine while the natural TFAs are present in meats and dairy products, though in small amounts.

Harmful effects:

TFAs pose a higher risk of heart disease than saturated fats. While saturated fats raise total cholesterol levels, TFAs not only raise total cholesterol levels but also reduce the good cholesterol (HDL), which helps to protect us against heart disease.
Trans fats consumption increases the risk of developing heart disease and stroke.
It is also associated with a higher risk of developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, infertility, certain types of cancers and can also lead to compromised fetal development causing harm to the yet to be born baby.

Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA):

Established in 1943 by a group of Indian intellectuals as a think tank.
By an Act of Parliament in 2001, the ICWA was declared an institution of national importance.
The Vice President of India is the ex-officio President of ICWA.
It is devoted exclusively for the study of international relations and foreign affairs.
The founder-president of the Council was Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru.
Historic international conferences held by ICWA: ‘Asian Relations Conference’ in 1947 under the leadership of freedom fighter Sarojini Naidu and ‘United Nations and the New World Order’ in 1994.

2016 UPSC Prelims

Statement 1: Core Banking Solution (CBS) is networking of branches, which enables Customers to operate their accounts, and avail banking services from any branch of the Bank on CBS network, regardless of where he maintains his account. Clearly, 1 is correct.

Statement 2 and 3: They are absurd and can easily be eliminated.