💥UPSC 2026, 2027, 2028 UAP Mentorship (March Batch) + Access XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF

Type: PIB

  • Mother and Child Health – Immunization Program, BPBB, PMJSY, PMMSY, etc.

    [pib] National Creche Scheme

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Creche scheme

    Mains level: Maternity benefits act

    The Union Minister of Women and Child Development have given information about the National Creche Scheme to the Lok Sabha.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017?

    1. Pregnant women are entitled to three months pre-delivery and three months post-delivery paid leave.
    2. Enterprises with creches must allow the mother a minimum of six crèche visits daily.
    3. Women with two children get reduced entitlements.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below.

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    National Creche Scheme

    • The Ministry of WCD implements the NCS for the children of working mothers as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through States/ UTs with effect from 01.01.2017.
    • It aims to provide daycare facilities to children (age group of 6 months to 6 years) of working mothers.

    The Scheme provides an integrated package of the following services:

    • Daycare facilities including sleeping facilities.
    • Early stimulation for children below 3 years and pre-school education for 3 to 6 years old children
    • Supplementary nutrition (to be locally sourced)
    • Growth monitoring
    • Health check-up and immunization
  • Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

    [pib] Swami Dayanand Saraswati

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Dayanand Saraswati

    Mains level: Not Much

    Information and Broadcasting Minister paid his tributes to Swami Dayanand Saraswati on his birth anniversary.

    Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)

    • Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of the Vedic dharma.
    • He was the first to give the call for Swaraj as “India for Indians” in 1876, a call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.
    • Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies.
    • Subsequently, the philosopher and then President, S. Radhakrishnan called him one of the “makers of Modern India”, as did Sri Aurobindo.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which among the following event happened earliest?

    (a) Swami Dayanand established Arya Samaj

    (b) Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neeldarpan

    (c) Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote Anandmath

    (d) Satyendranath Tagore became the first India to succeed in the Indian Civil Services Examination

    His influence

    • Those who were influenced by and followed him included Madam Cama, Shyamji Krishna Varma, Kishan Singh, Bhagat Singh, VD Savarkar, Bhai Parmanand, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, MG Ranade, Ashfaq Ullah Khan, , Lala Lajpat Rai etc.

    Philosophy

    • He was ascetic from boyhood and a scholar.
    • He believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas.
    • He advocated the doctrine of Karma and Reincarnation.
    • He emphasized the Vedic ideals of Brahmacharya, including celibacy and devotion to God.

    His contribution

    • Among Dayananda’s contributions were his promoting of the equal rights for women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures.
    • He wrote his commentary on the Vedas from Vedic Sanskrit in Sanskrit as well as in Hindi.
  • Child Rights – POSCO, Child Labour Laws, NAPC, etc.

    [pib] Child Beggars and their protection

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Various provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act

    Mains level: Child rights and their protection

    The Union Minister of Women and Child Development has given important information regarding the protection of child beggars in India under various acts and ministries.

    Q.What are the various legislatures aimed at protecting Child Beggars in India? Discuss their efficacy in the prevention of child begging as well as abuse.

    Protection of Child Beggars

    (A) JJ Act, 2015

    • The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act) is the primary law for children in the country.
    • The Section 2 (14) (ii) of the Act, 2015, considers a child being in force or is found begging, or living on the street as a “child in need of care and protection”.
    • As per Section 76 of JJ Act, whoever employs or uses any child for the purpose of begging or causes any child to beg shall be punishable with imprisonment.
    • The Act provides a security net of service delivery structures along with measures for institutional and non-institutional care, to ensure the comprehensive well being of children in distress situations.
    • The primary responsibility of execution of the Act rests with the States/UTs.

    (B) Child Protection Services (CPS)

    • The Ministry implements a centrally sponsored scheme CPS under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services scheme.
    • It supports the children in difficult circumstances including child beggars and destitute children.
    • Under the scheme, institutional care is provided through Child Care Institutions (CCIs), as a rehabilitative measure.
    • The programmes and activities in CCIs inter-alia include age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counselling etc.
    • The scheme supports 24×7 emergency outreach/ helpline service for children in distress conditions.
    • The service is accessible through a dedicated toll-free number, 1098 from anywhere in India.

    (C) Rehabilitation measures

    • The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has undertaken a pilot project for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons engaged in the act of begging.
    • It is currently held in ten (10) cities; namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Patna, Nagpur and Indore.
    • The initiative aims for identification, rehabilitation, counselling, skill development of beggars.
    • It includes education of children engaged in begging/children of persons engaged in the begging.

    The children of today are assets of tomorrow. Yet education, which is a fundamental right to every child in our country, is still a dream for many children in India, especially the ones who are poor, downtrodden and in dire need.

  • [pib] Seaweeds Mission

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Seaweed Mission

    Mains level: Seaweed economy

    TIFAC has unveiled a Seaweed Mission for commercial farming of seaweeds and its processing for value addition.

    Note the species of edible seaweeds mentioned in the newscard.

    Seaweed Mission

     

    The Mission envisages the following activities:

    • establishing model demonstration farms over one hectare for the cultivation of economically important seaweeds in nearshore and onshore along the Indian coast
    • Kappaphycus all over Indian coast
    • Gracilaria dura in Gujarat
    • Gracilariaverrucosa in Chilika Lake (Odisha)
    • Ulva Linza or Ulva prolife rain Chilika Lake (Odisha)
    • Ulva Lactuca or Ulva fasciata or Ulva indica all over India coast

    Proposed Sites: Gujarat / Tamil Nadu / Andhra Pradesh / Odisha / Karnataka

    Seaweed production in India

    • Out of the global seaweed production of ~ 32 million tons fresh weight valued around 12 billion US dollars. China produces ~57 %, Indonesia ~28% followed by South Korea.
    • India is having a mere share of ~0.01-0.02%.
    • Despite several advantages, commercial seaweeds cultivation has not been taken place in the country at an appropriate scale, as being practised in South-East Asian countries.
    • By an estimate, if cultivation is done in ≈10 million hectares or 5% of the EEZ area of India, it can provide employment to ~ 50 million people.
    • Seaweed cultivation also enhances ocean productivity, abates algal blooms and sequesters millions of tons CO2.

     

  • Labour, Jobs and Employment – Harmonization of labour laws, gender gap, unemployment, etc.

    [pib] SAKSHAM Portal

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: SAKSHAM portal

    Mains level: MSMS sector and its job potential

    The Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) has launched SAKSHAM, a dynamic job portal for mapping the skills of Shramiks.

    The name SAKSHAM closely leans towards HRD, Employment and Entrepreneurship developments.  Make a note of it. It can create confusion while revision.

    SAKSHAM

    • SAKSHAM is an acronym for Shramik Shakti Manch.
    • The portal with the demand and supply data uses an algorithm and AI tools, for geospatial information on demand and availability of Shramiks, and also provides analysis on skill training programmes of Shramiks.
    • It would directly connect Shramiks with MSMEs and facilitate placement of blue-collar jobs.
    • The pilot portal originally initiated with two districts is now being launched as an all India portal.

    Key features

    • A dynamic job portal – an opportunity for Shramiks and MSMEs
    • Facilitate the creation of 10 lakh blue-collar jobs
    • Direct connect between Shramiks and MSMEs, no middleman in between
    • Minimise migration of Shramiks – job opportunity in proximate MSMEs
  • Monsoon Updates

    [pib] National Monsoon Mission

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: National Monsoon Mission

    Mains level: Determinants of Indian Monsoon

    Under the National Monsoon Mission (NMM), Ministry of Earth Sciences has developed the state-of-the-art weather and climate prediction models, which are now in operational use.

    Tap to read about the mechanism of Indian Monsoon System at:

    The Southwest Monsoon Season (Jun – Sep) | Part 1

    National Monsoon Mission (NMM)

    • Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) had launched NMM in 2012 with a vision to develop a state-of-the-art dynamical prediction system for monsoon rainfall on different time scales.
    • The responsibility of execution and coordination of this mission is vested to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune.
    • Climate Forecast System (CFS) of USA has been identified as the basic modelling system for the above purpose, as it is one of the best among the currently available coupled models.

    Targets of NMM

    • Development of a seamless prediction system using monsoon mission model, on different time scales, like Seasonal (for whole Monsoon season), extended-range (upto 4 weeks), short-range prediction (up-to 5days).
    • Initiate and coordinate the working partnership between Indian and foreign institutes to develop a system for prediction of extremes and climate applications
    • Develop and implement the system for climate applications having social impacts (such as agriculture, flood forecast, extreme events forecast, wind energy, etc.
    • Advanced data assimilation system for preparing high-quality data for model predictions.

    Achievements of NMM during the last 3 years

    • Setting up of an advanced prediction system for Seasonal prediction; Extended range prediction and Very high-resolution Short-range prediction.
    • Commissioning of a Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) for short and medium-range prediction at 12km.
    • The Cyclone track and intensity prediction has also shown a steady improvement over the last three years.
    • The operationalization of Monsoon Mission dynamical model (MMCFS) to prepare operational seasonal forecast of monsoon rainfall and temperatures during the hot and cold weather seasons over India.
    • Development of an algorithm to monitor and predict the Monsoon Intra-seasonal Oscillations (MISO) and Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the extended range.
    • Development of an index to predict the genesis and evolution of tropical cyclones and other cyclonic disturbances over the north Indian Ocean.
  • Air Pollution

    [pib] Scheme for Management of Crop Residues

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Air pollution

    Mains level: Alternatives solutions for stubble burning

    The Scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ has been extended for the year 2021-22.

    We can cite the example of this scheme for crop residue management as an effective solution against stubble burning.

    Management of Crop Residues

    • In pursuance this, a central sector scheme (100% funded by centre) was launched in 2018 Budget to support the efforts of the governments of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi to address air pollution.
    • It aimed to subsidize the machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue.

    Various objectives of the scheme:

    • Protecting the environment from air pollution and preventing loss of nutrients and soil micro-organisms caused by burning of crop residue;
    • Promoting in-situ management of crop residue by retention and incorporation into the soil through the use of appropriate mechanization inputs and
    • Creating awareness among stakeholders for effective utilization and management of crop residue

    Outcomes of the scheme

    • The residue burning events in 2020 in Punjab, Haryana and UP together have reduced by -30% as compared to 2016.
    • In Punjab the reduction is -22.7%, Haryana – 63.8% and UP – 52.01%.
  • Indian Navy Updates

    [pib] Malabar Naval Exercises

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Malabar Exercises

    Mains level: Not Much

    The 24th edition of Malabar maritime exercise, hosted by Indian Navy in 2020, witnessed the participation by Indian Navy, United States Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defence Force and Royal Australian Navy.

    Such news is nothing but the repetitive chunk that occurs every year with few or no new developments. Still, they are significant for the sake of information as Australia has joined it after several apprehensions.

     Question can be expected in CAPF, CDS or AFCAT exams.

    About Ex. Malabar

    • Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the US, Japan and India as permanent partners.
    • This year Australia has joined as a permanent partner.
    • Originally begun in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015.
    • Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
    • The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises.

    Significance of Australia’s inclusion

    • Earlier, India had concerns that it would give the appearance of a “quadrilateral military alliance” aimed at China.
    • Now both look forward to the cooperation in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strengthening of defence ties.
    • This has led to a convergence of mutual interest in many areas for a better understanding of regional and global issues.
    • Both are expected to conclude the long-pending Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) as part of measures to elevate the strategic partnership.
  • Digital India Initiatives

    [pib] MCA21 Version 3.0

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: MCA

    Mains level: Digital India

    The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will launch data analytics-driven MCA21 Version 3.0.

    What is MCA 21?

    • MCA21 is an e-Governance initiative of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) that enables easy and secure access of the MCA services to the corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.
    • It is the first Mission Mode e-Governance project of GoI.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which one of the following is not a feature of Limited Liability Partnership firm?

    (a) Partners should be less than 20

    (b) Partnership and management need not be separate

    (c) Internal governance may be decided by mutual agreement among partners

    (d) It is a corporate body with perpetual succession

    MCA21 3.0

    • MCA21 V3 is a technology-driven forward-looking project, envisioned to strengthen enforcement, promote Ease of Doing Business, enhance the user experience, and facilitate seamless integration and data exchange among Regulators.
    • The project will have Micro-services architecture with high scalability and capabilities for advanced analytics.
    • It will have additional modules for e-Adjudication, e-Consultation and Compliance Management.
    • Aligned with global best practices and aided by emerging technologies such as AI and ML, MCA21 V3 is envisioned to transform the corporate regulatory environment in India.

    Components of MCA21 V3

    • E-Scrutiny: MCA is in process of setting up a Central Scrutiny Cell which will scrutinise certain Straight Through Process (STP) Forms filed by the corporates on the MCA21 registry and flag the companies for more in-depth scrutiny.
    • E-adjudication: E-adjudication module will provide a platform for conducting online hearings with stakeholders and end to end adjudication electronically.
    • E-Consultation: To automate and enhance the current process of public consultation on proposed amendments and draft rules etc., e-consultation module of MCA21 v3 will provide an online platform.
    • Compliance Management System (CMS): CMS will assist MCA in identifying non-compliant companies/LLPs, issuing e-notices to the said defaulting companies/LLPs etc.
  • Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

    [pib] Monpa Handmade Paper of Tawang

    Note4Students

    From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

    Prelims level: Monpa Handmade Paper

    Mains level: Not Much

    PC: East Mojo

    The sale of the 1000-years old heritage Monpa handmade paper or “Mon Shugu” is quickly catching pace after a special mention by PM in his Mann ki Baat.

    Monpa Handmade Paper

    • Monpa paper is made from the bark of tree Shugu Sheng grown locally in Tawang and is identified by its distinctive translucent fibrous texture.
    • The paper is weightless but its natural fibres add great tensile strength to this paper making it apt for various artworks.
    • It has been used for writing Buddhist scriptures, manuscripts and for making prayer flags.
    • Writing on this paper is also known to be tamper-proof.

    Note: This paper is yet to be awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

    Revitalized by KVIC

    • Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which revived this ancient art at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on 25th December 2020.
    • It has made Monpa Handmade paper available online through its e-portal.
    • The revival of this art assumes significance as Monpa Handmade paper was once produced in every household in Tawang and the paper was exported to many countries like Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar and Japan among others.
    • However, with the new technologies coming in, the handmade paper industry almost disappeared in the last 100 years.