TRIUMPH IAS ACADEMY MUMBAI

DISHA- Driving industry Towards Sustainable Human Capital Advancement, the initiative of Ministry of Textiles will encourage members to follow better social practices, which will give them a competitive edge in the global markets where social compliance is increasingly becoming an important buying decision. This initiative attempts to educate apparel exporting members on a code of ethics that covers all critical social and environmental concerns like child labour, health and industrial safety. DISHA will not only give the opportunity for the industry to negate international claims against child labour promotion in the garment industry, but will also help to improve the overall image of the industry on the global front and not the least, to win more international business. Under the programme, root cause analysis and guidance will be given by a team of experts as part of the capacity building programme. A toolkit will be prepared based on the Common Compliance Code by which...

PSLV in its 27 th flight launched SPOT-7 a French earth observation satellite into a 655 km Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). PSLV  launched from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre. This will be the 10 th flight of PSLV without the use of solid strap-on motors. SPOT-7 is a French optical earth observation satellite. (This is identical to SPOT-6 launched earlier on-board PSLV-21 during September 2012). SPOT-7, after its injection into Sun Synchronous Orbit, will be phased and placed diametrically opposite to SPOT-6 and will form part of the existing earth observation constellation. SPOT-7 satellite is built by Airbus Defence & Space, a leading European space technology company. After more than 17 minutes of flight, the PSLV C23 will put SPOT-7 in the designated orbit. Along with SPOT-7, there will be 4 co-passenger satellites, AISAT from DLR, Germany, NLS7.1 & NLS7.2 from UTIAS/SFL, Canada and VELOX-1 from NTU, Singapore. AISAT’s mis...

Prints are works of art which allow multiples in almost identical forms of the initial image. The history of printmaking in India from 1556 may be outlined as an era for this form of art gaining prominence with the Portuguese bringing in the printing press to Goa. If seen in the international context, this form of art started making its mark in India almost a century after Gutenberg’s Bible. Noted artists such as Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) and William Daniell (1769-1837) made six volume series of aquatints titled as Oriental Scenery in India .  In 1786, the Daniells published an album of their monochrome etchings, Twelve Views of Calcutta.  This was the first time that the possibilities of single sheet printing were explored on a large scale in India. The first lithographic single sheet print was printed in 1822 by a French artist, De Savignac.   The demand for printed images for calendars, books and other publications grew in the 1870s which resulted...

The most striking aspect of the 376 Indians who were part of the Komagata Maru adventure was the bravery they exhibited, their unwavering commitment in keeping afloat the pride of their country and vastly influencing inter-continental movement of mankind. The story of the Komagata Maru resonates beyond 1914, linking to freedom movement in India and the right to vote for South Asians in Canada. Their stand echoes all men and women everywhere who oppose exclusion and domination on grounds of race, colour and origin. It addresses how we build communities, understand multiculturalism, how we remember our past and develop multiple connections.     Komagata Maru incident was a very significant event in the history of Indian revolutionary movement. This was the voyage of Komagata Maru, which though inspired by the doctrine of the Ghadar party indirectly gave a fillip to the Indian struggle for freedom. Indians had been migrating to Canada and U.S.A from the early...

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for the North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSlP) for six States (Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland) for strengthening of the Intra State Transmission and Distribution System at an estimated cost of Rs.5111.33 crore including capacity building expenditure of Rs.89 crore. The scheme is to be taken up under a new Central Sector Plan Scheme of Ministry of Power (MoP). The scheme is to be implemented with the assistance of World Bank loan and the budget of MoP. The project will be funded on 50:50 (World Bank loan: Gol) basis except the component of capacity building for Rs.89 crore for which GoI will bear entirely As the Intra-State Transmission and Distribution systems in the North-Eastern States have remained very weak, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) developed a comprehensive scheme for the North East Region (NER) in consult...

The Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,  approved signing and ratifying the SAARC Regional Railways Agreement by India, as a member State of SAARC. SAARC region is considered one of the least networked regions in terms of physical and soft connectivity leading to high costs and low volumes of trade recognizing which the leaders of the SAARC countries agreed that better transport infrastructure and linkages among the SAARC countries was necessary. A study viz. the SAARC Regional Multi Modal Transport Study (SRMTS) of 2005 undertaken by SAARC Secretariat had recommended multilateral agreements permitting free movement of people, goods and services within SAARC region in the Road and Rail sector and this was endorsed by the SAARC countries in the Summit level and Transport Ministers meetings. Accordingly, the Regional Rail Agreement (RRA) was drafted by India for SAARC countries in 2008. Since then, the draft Agreement has been discussed in the...

Development Scheme The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval to launch "Integrated Power Development Scheme" (IPDS) with the objectives of: 1. Strengthening of sub-transmission and distribution network in the urban areas; 2. Metering of distribution transformers /feeders / consumers in the urban areas. 3. IT enablement of distribution sector and strengthening of distribution network as per CCEA approval dated 21.06.2013 for completion of targets laid down under Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP) for 12th and 13th Plans by carrying forward the approved outlay for RAPDRP to IPDS. The scheme will help in reduction in AT&C losses, establishment of IT enabled energy accounting / auditing system, improvement in billed energy based on metered consumption and improvement in collection efficiency. The estimated cost of the present scheme with the components of strengthening ...

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved the launch of Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) with components (i) to separate agriculture and non agriculture feeders facilitating judicious rostering of supply to agricultural and non-agricultural consumers in rural areas and (ii) strengthening and augmentation of sub transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas, including metering of distribution transformers/feeders/consumers. The estimated cost of the scheme for above two components is Rs.43,033 crore which includes the requirement of budgetary support of Rs.33,453 crore from Government of India over the entire implementation period. The Cabinet further approved, that the balance work relating to rural electrification as per CCEA’s approval in August, 2013 with the norms of the ongoing scheme of RGGVY in 12th and 13th Plans will get subsumed in DDUGJY as a distinct component for rural electrification, for wh...

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has blogged on his recent visit to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji. Following is the Text of his blog post which can be accessed at http://www.narendramodi.in/pm-blogs-on-his-visit-to-myanmar-australia-and-fiji/ “Dear Friends, On the evening of the 19th, my trip to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji concluded. While on the way back I was reflecting on the last ten days – what did we achieve, what were the outcomes for India and that is when I thought I should also share some thoughts with you through my Blog. To begin with, it is vital to understand the historic uniqueness of this visit. In the case of Australia, this was the first bilateral visit by a Prime Minister of India in 28 years. Fiji witnessed such a visit almost 33 years back. On one hand, the IT and Communication revolution brought the world closer but on the other hand, we could not reach the shores of these two countries, each important in its own way, for almost three decades. I ...

Government to Launch Blue Revolution Government to launch Blue Revolution as a major thrust: announces Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Minister for Agriculture on World Fisheries Day. Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Minister for Agriculture  on the occasion of World Fisheries Day informed that the Government is focused to usher in a Blue Revolution meaning increase in fish production and productivity in the country on the occasion of World Fisheries Day. National Fisheries Development Board under Ministry of Agriculture organized celebrations on World Fisheries Day. The Minister informed that India ranks world number two in fish production and also the second highest aquaculture country in the world. India with a fishermen population of 14.5 million and a coastal line of 8118 kilometers can rise to be a major player in the world fisheries. India also has a fleet of 200,000 fishing vessels and last year has exported fish worth 5 billion US dollars. The Minister informed that India...

 Japan has committed JICA ODA loan for an amount of Yen 15.620 billion for the Guwahati Sewerage Project. India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. In the last few years, the economic partnership between India and Japan has steadily progressed. This further consolidates and strengthens the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, outlined the broad contours of India’s new thrust against tuberculosis (TB), and stressed that he is determined to take the country substantially down the road to elimination of the disease by 2020. Delivering the keynote address at the World Health Organisation’s Global TB Symposium –titled “Moving out of the box to end global TB epidemic: with post-2015 strategy” – the Minister said, “I am a man in a hurry. While I am all for having a long-term perspective, I am not interested in something that may or may not be achieved in 2035 or 2050.” Dr Harsh Vardhan announced that under the evolving “TB-Mission 2020” he had instructed India’s anti-TB mission officials to work hard to achieve considerable success over the next five years. In his view, a distant target date would not demand of his team the kind of accountability that would be naturally ensured if the objective is brought forward. Already, the government has put TB control mea...

Dr. Jitendra Singh Launches First Indegenously Developed Diagnostic Test Kit for Intestinal Disorder “Celiac Disease” As a part of the recent initiative to expand the activities of Department of Science & Technology into the health sector, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh yesterday launched an indigenously developed, cost-effective diagnostic test kit, the first of its kind in India, for the autoimmune “Celiac disease”, which is a lifelong intestinal disorder manifesting as intolerance to certain foods such as wheat, barley, etc. with symptoms like recurring abdominal pain, diarrhoea and weight loss. This launch comes close on the heels of the Department of Science & Technology launching a cost-effective injectable Polio vaccine and ROTA virus vaccine about two months ago. The diagnostic kit has been develo...

“With several sewerage projects under implementation and other efforts in progress, and if everything goes well, the quality of water in river Yamuna should be good for drinking by 2017” said, Shri Sinya Ejima, Chief Representative of JICA in India. He said so, while making a detailed presentation on ‘JICA’s Operations in Urban Sector In India’ at the meeting of India-Japan Joint Working Group on Urban Development here today. JICA is currently associated with 16 projects relating to sewerage and water supply with a total loan commitment of Rs.28,660 cr in the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Goa. Shri Ejima informed that current commitment of JICA’s assistance in urban sector including water and transport is of the order of Rs.2,40,000 cr. JICA said, the challenges in water sector in India to be addressed are : Improvement in Operation & Maintenance (O&M) for efficient managem...

TIAS is providing online Mains Test Series, The questions and solutions will be made available online. And thorough evaluation of the answers alongwith feedback will be provided. For more details email or contact 9819772116

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, is in favour of a complete ban on e-cigarettes and all products described as “Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)”. In his clearest message yet on the controversy over the safety of ENDS, Dr Harsh Vardhan ruled out their acceptability in the light of research findings by experts which have held that they are no less unsafe than the “real thing”. The Minister, who was addressing global tobacco control experts at the 45th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Barcelona, Spain, yesterday, said that e-cigarettes and similar products push children towards the tobacco habit eventually via nicotine dependence. “In our national consultation it has been shown that children and other non-smokers tend to develop nicotine addiction at a rate greater than situations where ENDS did not exist. And after that the slide to tobacco is practically inevitable,” he said. Dr Harsh Vardhan, who is credited with writing the first ever anti-smok...

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for ratifying the 'Nagoya-KualaLumpur supplementary protocol on liability and redress to the Cartagena protocol on bio-safety' by India. The proposed approach provides for an international regulatory framework in the field of liability and redress related to living modified organisms that reconciles trade and environment protection. The Supplementary Protocol would promote sound application of biotechnology making it possible to accrue benefits arising from modern biotechnology while minimizing the risk to the environment and human health. The proposal will protect the interests of all Indians without distinction or differentiation. The proposal is based on the principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, both internationally negotiated and binding legal instruments. It will promote innovation in agricultural and healthcare research an...

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the acquisition of Polar Research Vessel (Ice-breaker, Research cum Supply Vessel) by the Ministry of Earth Sciences at a total cost of Rs. 1051.13 crore within a period of 34 months. The Ministry of Earth Sciences felt necessary to have the country's own polar research vessel considering the need to sustain two Indian research bases in Antarctica (Maitri and Bharti); dovetailing research initiatives in the Southern Ocean domain with those in the proximal regions of the Antarctic continent; widen the thrust on Arctic research disciplines undertaken through Indian Station Himadri, and to provide a suitable research platform for other tropical sea programmes. Such a vessel, it is envisaged, can not only perform dual functions, research and logistics, in the polar region but can also serve as a research platform for scientists to undertake scientific research in the o...

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of oil and gas between India and Mozambique for a period of five years. Offshore gas discoveries in 2010 in two adjacent offshore blocks have seen the emergence of Mozambique as a significant hydrocarbon rich nation. Mozambique is strategically located near India and is ideally suited for bringing natural gas to India at market determined price. Participation of indian energy companies in the project will facilitate access to LNG for the growing Indian gas market. The MoU seeks cooperation in the areas of upstream and downstream oil and gas sector; encourage and promote trade and investment between the parties or through their affiliated companies; promote dialogue and consultations among all concernedparties with regard to sharing of information; enhance capacity-building, including forging closer cooperatio...