Concept of Product Graduation in EU's Generalized System of Preferences

• Product graduation is a concept that applies when average imports of a product from a beneficiary country exceed 17.5% of EU-GSP imports of the same product from all beneficiary countries over 3 years.
• India’s exports such as textiles, inorganic and organic chemicals, gems and jewellery, iron, steel and their articles, base metals and automotives are out of the ambit of EU-GSP benefits now.

Manas National Park

• Manas national park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve.
• It is located in the Himalayan foothills in Assam. It is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan.
• The name of the park is originated from the Manas River.
• Significance: The park is known for its rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog. It is also famous for its population of wild water buffalo.
• Human History: Pagrang is the only forest village located in the core of the Manas national park.
• River: The Manas river flows through the west of the park. Manas is a major tributary of the Brahmaputra river. The river is named after the serpent goddess Manasa.

Simlipal Biosphere Reserve

• Simlipal National Park is a national park and a tiger reserve in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.
• It is part of Similipal-Kuldiha-Hadgarh Elephant Reserve popularly known as Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve.
• Simlipal National Park derives its name from the abundance of semul (red silk cotton trees) that bloom here.
• It was the second largest national park in India.
• Its reserve is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2009.
• The park has a protected area of 845.70 square kilometres and has some beautiful waterfalls like Joranda and Barehipani.
• Besides it is famous for gaurs (Indian bison), chausingha as well as an orchidarium.
• Erenga, Kharias and the Mankirdias, inhabit the reserve’s forests and practise traditional agricultural activities (the collection of seeds and timber).
• Other dominant tribes include the Ho, Gonda and Munda, among others.
• Similipal’s cultural significance is characterized by stories and paintings that date back to the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas, many of which mention local sites linked with specific mythological stories. .

The search of Stromatolites on Jezero Crater in Mars

• Fossil stromatolites are the oldest evidence for life on Earth. They first appeared 3.7 billion years ago.
• The drone Ingenuity will search the surface of Martian crater Jezero to look for signs of this microbe trapped in its atmosphere.

Ease of Living Index 2020

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released the final rankings of the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) 2020.
• The Index categorises the cities into,
• Million+ populated cities (Population of more than a million) - Bengaluru (Top), Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, etc.,
• Less than Million populated cites (Population of less than a million) - Shimla (Top), Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, etc.,
• All the cities under the Smart Cities Program.
• EoLI is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development.
• The framework for this assessment was prepared by MoHUA with the Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner.
• It measures the Indians’ well-being in 111 cities based on Quality of Life, Economic-ability, and Sustainability - 49 indicators under 13 categories.
• It incorporates the residents' view on the city administration’s services through a Citizen Perception Survey (CPS) - 30% weightage.
• It seeks to accelerate India's urban development outcomes, including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Smart City Mission

• It is an innovative initiative under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.
• Objective: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of Smart Solutions.
• Focus: On sustainable and inclusive development and to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a lighthouse to other aspiring cities.

Strategy:

• Pan-city initiative in which at least one Smart Solution is applied city-wide.
• Develop areas step-by-step with the help of these three models:
  
  • Retrofitting.
  • Redevelopment.
  • Greenfield.
• Coverage and Duration: The Mission covers 100 cities for the duration of 5 years starting from the financial year (FY) 2015-16 to 2019-20.
• Financing: It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

Municipal Performance Index 2020

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs released the final rankings of the Municipal Performance Index 2020.
• The MPI has classified municipalities based on their population as-
  • Million+ category (Municipalities having over a million population) - Indore (Top), Surat, Bhopal.
  • Less than Million Population category (Municipalities with a population of less than a million) - New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) (Top), Tirupati and Gandhinagar.
• Five verticals - Services, Finance, Policy, Technology and Governance.
• The MPI is an effort to assess and analyse the performance of Indian municipalities based on their defined set of functions.

Draft UGC Regulations

• Draft UGC (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Joint Degree, Dual Degree and Twinning Programmes) Regulations, 2021 was put for public review.
• It may effectively implement the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) aspect of National Education Policy, 2020.
• Joint Degree programme - The curriculum shall be designed jointly by the collaborating Indian and foreign HEIs.
• The degree shall be awarded by both the institutions with a single Certificate bearing the crests and logo of both collaborating institutions, upon completion of the programme.
• Dual Degree Programme shall be conferred by the Indian and foreign HEIs, separately and simultaneously, upon completion of degree requirements of both institutions.
• Twinning Arrangement - Students enrolled with an Indian HEI shall undertake their study program partly in India, complying with relevant UGC regulations, and partly in the foreign HEI.
• Moreover, credits earned by the students at a foreign HEI shall be counted towards the degree/diploma awarded by the Indian HEI.

CSIR Floriculture Mission

• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Floriculture Mission will be implemented in 21 States and Union Territories of India.
• Efforts are being made to take the agro-technologies, new varieties and value addition technologies with the CSIR institutions to the farmers and entrepreneurs.
• It is being implemented in collaboration with Directorate of Floriculture (ICAR); KVIC; APEDA; TRIFED; Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC), and Universities.
• The convergence of Floriculture with Apiculture has been envisaged.
• Mission’s focus - Commercial floral crops, seasonal/annual crops, wild ornaments and cultivation of flower crops for honey bee rearing.

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research

• It was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body.
• It comes under the Ministry of Science & Technology.
• It is known for its cutting-edge research and development knowledge base in diverse science and technology areas.
• It has been ranked 1st in the Nature Ranking Index 2020.
  
  • The Nature Index provides close to a real-time proxy of high-quality research output and collaboration at the institutional, national and regional levels.

Red Rice in Assam

• Boosting India’s rice export potential, the first consignment of ‘red rice’ was flagged off to the USA.
• This rice variety is called ‘Bao-dhaan’ - An integral part of Assamese food.
• ‘Red rice’ is grown in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam, without the use of any chemical fertilizer. It is rich in iron.
• The agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has been promoting rice exports through the Rice Export Promotion Forum (REPF).

GI Tags

SAARC Summit

• It is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia.
• Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are its members.
• Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
• It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) in 2006.
• States with observer status include Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and United States.
• Pakistan was to host the Summit in 2016, but India had pulled out accusing Pakistan of supporting anti-India terrorist groups.

COVID-19 & SAARC :

• India has proposed to create a COVID-19 Emergency Fund which could be based on a voluntary contribution from all SAARC members.
• Further, $10 million has been extended by India as a contribution to the fund.

Recently Held SAARC Summits

• The last SAARC Summit in 2014 was held in Kathmandu (Nepal), which was attended by India
• 19th SAARC Summit 2019 – cancelled.
• 20th SAARC Summit's host to be decided.