Table of Contents
1. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE ____________ 4
1.1. Mission Karmayogi____________________4
1.2. Election Commission Tackling Criminalisation
of Politics _______________________________5
1.3. Kesavananda Bharati Case______________7
1.4. Question Hour _______________________8
1.5. Aspirational Districts Programme _______10
1.6. Important Data - Crime in India 2019 report
______________________________________12
2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS __________ 14
2.1. Rise of the Minilaterals _______________14
2.2. Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral
Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
______________________________________15
2.3. International Criminal Court ___________17
2.4. Afghan Peace Process ________________19
2.5. Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT) _______20
3. ECONOMY_________________________ 23
3.1. Agricultural Reforms _________________23
3.1.1. The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce
(Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 _________ 24
3.1.2. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection)
Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act,
2020 ____________________________________ 25
3.1.3. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act,
2020 ____________________________________ 26
3.2. Labour Codes _______________________27
3.2.1. Code on Industrial Relations, 2020 _______ 27
3.2.2. Code on Social Security, 2020 ___________ 29
3.2.3. Code on Occupational Safety, Health and
Working Conditions, 2020 ___________________ 30
3.3. Amendments to Public Procurement Order,
2017 __________________________________32
3.4. Bilateral Netting _____________________33
3.5. Companies (Amendment) Act, 2020 _____34
3.6. Business Reform Action Plan- Ease of Doing
Business Ranking________________________36
3.7. Restructuring of Loans ________________37
3.8. Revised Priority Sector Lending (PSL)
Guidelines _____________________________37
3.9. Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
______________________________________39
3.10. Innovation Ecosystem: What, why and how?
______________________________________41
3.11. Results of Ranking of States on Support to
Startup Ecosystems ______________________43
3.12. Pandemic Risk Pool _________________44
3.13. Green Term Ahead Market ___________45
4. SECURITY__________________________ 47
4.1. Defence Acquisition Procedure, 2020 ____47
4.2. Piracy in the Indian Ocean Region_______48
5. ENVIRONMENT_____________________ 52
5.1. Namami Gange Mission _______________52
5.2. Groundwater Extraction in India ________54
5.3. Global Biodiversity Outlook____________56
5.4. The Living Planet Report 2020 (LPR) _____57
6. SOCIAL ISSUES ______________________59
6.1. The Human Capital Index 2020 _________59
6.2. Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)___________________60
6.3. National Medical Commission__________62
6.4. Vaccine Hesitancy____________________64
6.5. Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Bill, 2020
______________________________________65
7. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY____________67
7.1. Data Empowerment and Protection
Architecture____________________________67
7.2. Alternative Medicines ________________68
7.2.1. The National Commission for Indian System of
Medicine Act (NCISM), 2020 _________________ 69
7.2.2. The National Commission for Homoeopathy
(NCH) Act, 2020 ___________________________ 70
7.2.3. The Institute of Teaching and Research in
Ayurveda (ITRA) Act, 2020 ___________________ 70
7.3. Assisted Reproductive Technology ______71
7.4. Trans Fats __________________________72
7.5. Mars Orbiter Mission _________________73
7.6. Hypersonic Technology Demonstration
Vehicle (HSTDV)_________________________74
8. CULTURE ___________________________76
8.1. Kakatiya Dynasty ____________________76
8.2. Bagh Print __________________________77
9. ETHICS_____________________________79
9.1. Beyond Growth: Towards a New Economic
Approach ______________________________79
10. SCHEMES IN NEWS __________________81
10.1. Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship
Programme (SVEP) ______________________81
10.2. Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram
(PMJVK) _______________________________81
11. NEWS IN SHORTS ___________________83
11.1. Singapore Convention on Mediation Comes into
Force ____________________________________ 83
11.2. A- WEB ______________________________ 83
11.3. e-GramSwaraj Portal ___________________ 83
11.4. India proposes voluntary ‘G-20 Principles on
Coordinated Cross-Border Movement of People’_ 84
11.5. Finance Minister Unveils Doorstep Banking
Services and Declares EASE 2.0 Index Results ____ 84
11.6. Domestic Systemically Important Insurers
(DSIIS) ___________________________________ 84
11.7. ANIC-ARISE (Atal New India Challenges in
Applied Research and Innovation for Medium and
Small Enterprises) Launched _________________ 85
11.8. Entrepreneurship Development Institute of
India (EDII) _______________________________ 85
11.9. SAROD-Ports (Society for Affordable Redressal
of Disputes-Ports)__________________________ 85
11.10. Global Economic Freedom Index ________ 85
11.11. Global Smart City Index (SCI) ___________ 85
11.12. Global Initiative to Reduce Land Degradation
and Coral Reef Program Launched ____________ 85
11.13. Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework
(CSCAF 2.0) and Streets for People Challenge
Launched ________________________________ 86
11.14. Pantanal, Brazil ______________________ 86
11.15. Medicanes __________________________ 86
11.16. State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) ________ 87
11.17. NITI Aayog to Leverage Monitoring
Mechanism of Global Multidimensional Poverty
Index (MPI) _______________________________ 87
11.18. Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report
2020 by UNICEF ___________________________ 87
11.19. POSHAN Maah_______________________ 88
11.20. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Frames Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)
Rules, 2020 _______________________________ 88
11.21. Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment
(MoSJE) Launches Ambedkar Social Innovation &
Incubation Mission (ASIIM) __________________ 88
11.22. KIRAN ______________________________ 88
11.23. India Post launches Five Star Villages Scheme
_________________________________________ 88
11.24. Defence India StartupChallenge-4 (DISC 4) 89
11.25. Successful Flight Test of ABHYAS ________ 89
11.26. Special Frontier Force (SFF) ____________ 89
11.27. INDRA NAVY ________________________ 89
11.28. Passage Exercise (PASSEX) _____________ 89
11.29. JIMEX 20 ___________________________ 89
11.30. Himalayan Chandra Telescope __________ 89
11.31. India’s Second Rocket Launch Pad _______ 90
11.32. Sun has Begun a New Solar Cycle ________ 90
11.33. Scientific and Useful Profound Research
Advancement (SUPRA) Scheme _______________ 90
11.34. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to
Lead Global Procurement, Supply of COVID Vaccines
_________________________________________ 91
11.35. Ghar tak Fibre Scheme ________________ 91
11.36. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) Prize _____ 91
11.37. Saathi Initiative ______________________ 91
11.38. 25th Birth Anniversary of Sri Viswanatha
Satyanarayana ____________________________ 91
11.39. Rare Renati Chol Inscription Unearthed___ 92
11.40. Destination North East-2020' ___________ 92
