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08/01/2026

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CA-08/01/2026

• Established: 1978, under the provisions of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, to promote and support garment exports globally.
• Headquarters: Gurgaon, Haryana.
• Parent Ministry: Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
• Chairman (2026): A. Sakthivel, serving his fifth term.
• Role: Official body representing Indian apparel exporters, facilitating trade, policy advocacy, and global promotion.

• Export Promotion: Helps Indian apparel reach international markets through fairs, exhibitions, and buyer-seller meets.
• Policy Advocacy: Acts as a liaison between exporters and the government, influencing trade policies.
• Capacity Building: Provides training, skill development, and compliance support to exporters.
• Market Intelligence: Offers insights on global fashion trends, demand, and trade regulations.
• Subsidy & Schemes: Facilitates access to government schemes, subsidies, and incentives for exporters.

Stakeholder	Benefits
Exporters	Access to subsidies, training, and global buyers
Government	Policy feedback, improved export performance
Global Buyers	Reliable sourcing from India
Workers	Skill development and better employment opportunities

• Global Competition: Competing with low-cost producers like Bangladesh and Vietnam.
• Compliance Costs: Meeting international labor and environmental standards.
• Logistics & Infrastructure: Exporters face bottlenecks in ports and supply chains.
• Changing Fashion Trends: Need for adaptability and innovation.

• Location: Northern Amravati District, Maharashtra, on the southern offshoot of the Satpura Hill Range (Gavilgarh Hills).
• Established: 1973 under Project Tiger, making it Maharashtra’s first tiger reserve and one of India’s first nine tiger reserves
• Area: 2,768 sq km of tropical dry deciduous forest, dominated by teak.
• Name Meaning: “Melghat” translates to meeting of the ghats (valleys), reflecting its dramatic landscape.
• Wildlife: Tigers, leopards, sloth bears, Indian gaur, sambar, wild dogs, and over 250 bird species.
• Conservation Update (2026): 15 critically endangered Indian vultures were released here by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), fitted with GSM and satellite tags for monitoring.

• Tiger Conservation: Maintaining prey base and habitat connectivity is critical.
• Vulture Release Programme: Faced hurdles like limited food availability and absence of resident vulture populations to guide captive-bred birds.
• Human-Wildlife Conflict: Villages around the reserve require careful management to balance livelihoods and conservation.

• A-type: Earlier spectral classes (F-type or hotter), usually with radiative envelopes.
• W-type: Later spectral classes (G-type or cooler), typically with convective envelopes.
  W Ursae Majoris itself is an A-type system because of its F8 spectral classification.

• Prototype of W UMa Variables: These are contact binaries where both stars share a common envelope of gas. Their light curves show continuous variation because the stars are so close that they distort each other’s shapes.
• Eclipsing Binary: From Earth, the stars eclipse each other, causing periodic dips in brightness.
• Astrophysical Laboratory: Studying W UMa stars helps astronomers understand stellar evolution, mass transfer, and angular momentum loss in close binary systems.

• Launched by BIS: Introduced during the 79th Foundation Day of the Bureau of Indian Standards in New Delhi.
• Full Form: Standards Help Inform & Nurture Empowered Women (SHINE).
• Objective: Place women at the center of India’s quality journey by spreading awareness about standards, safety, and quality.
• Approach:
  • Structured training programs at the grassroots level.
  • Collaboration with NGOs and Self-Help Groups (SHGs).
  • Locally delivered, practical modules to ensure accessibility.
• Impact Areas:
  • Empowering women with knowledge to safeguard families.
  • Strengthening livelihoods by promoting quality practices.
  • Building a culture of safety and standards in households and communities.

Aspect	Significance
Women Empowerment	Equips women with practical knowledge on standards and safety.
Quality Culture	Extends BIS’s role from regulation to facilitation, aligning with ease of doing business.
Community Reach	Uses SHGs and NGOs to penetrate rural and semi-urban areas.
Livelihoods	Helps women improve product quality, boosting income and trust in local markets.

• BIS is India’s National Standards Body, responsible for setting and promoting standards across industries.
• The SHINE Scheme reflects BIS’s shift from being a purely regulatory authority to a facilitative partner in India’s development journey.
• It aligns with national goals of inclusive governance, women empowerment, and grassroots development.

• Awareness Gap: Many rural communities may initially struggle to understand technical standards.
• Implementation Scale: Success depends on effective collaboration with NGOs and SHGs.
• Monitoring Impact: Measuring improvements in livelihoods and safety practices will be crucial.

• Natural: Derived from organisms, including collagen, alginate, cellulose, and silk, which support regeneration.​
• Synthetic: Polymers, metals, ceramics, and hybrids like bioceramics or bioplastics engineered for strength and degradation.​
• Biodegradable: Break down via enzymatic reactions, reducing long-term risks in implants.​

• Scientific classification: Belong to the family Tettigoniidae, order Orthoptera.
• Appearance: Most species resemble green leaves, an adaptation for camouflage. Their antennae often exceed the length of their bodies.
• Size: Ranges from tiny species (~5 mm) to large ones up to 130 mm in body length.
• Sound production: Males rub their forewings together (a process called stridulation) to produce raspy, rhythmic chirps. Each species has a distinct song used to attract mates.
• Diet: Primarily herbivorous, feeding on leaves, flowers, and stems, though some species are omnivorous and may eat other insects.
• Behavior: Mostly nocturnal, hiding during the day and becoming active at night.
• Camouflage experts: Their leaf-like wings make them nearly invisible among foliage. Some species even mimic leaf damage, like spots or holes, to enhance disguise.

• Capacity: 570 MW hydropower generation.
• Location: Bhutan, on the Wangchhu river.
• Partnership: Adani Group (India) and Druk Green Power Corporation (Bhutan).
• Investment: Approx. $666 million (₹60 billion).
• Model: BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer).
• Purpose: Designed as a peaking run-of-river scheme, meaning it will generate electricity during peak demand hours without requiring massive reservoirs.
• Timeline: Agreements signed in September 2025; foundation stone laid soon after; construction commenced in early 2026.
• Strategic Goal: Part of a broader India–Bhutan partnership to develop 5 GW of hydropower capacity in Bhutan.

• Energy Security for Bhutan: Hydropower is Bhutan’s largest export and revenue source. Wangchhu adds substantial capacity to its grid.
• Regional Cooperation: Strengthens India–Bhutan energy ties, with India expected to be a major buyer of generated electricity.
• Sustainability: Run-of-river design reduces ecological disruption compared to large dam projects, though seasonal river flow variability remains a challenge.
• Economic Impact: The $666M investment boosts local employment, infrastructure, and long-term energy trade revenues.

• Evaporation: Hot water loses mass faster, reducing the amount that needs to freeze.
• Convection Currents: Stronger circulation in hot water may distribute cooling more efficiently.
• Dissolved Gases: Heating expels gases, altering freezing behavior.
• Supercooling Differences: Cold water may supercool (stay liquid below freezing point) more easily than hot water, delaying ice formation.
• Molecular Structure: Heating changes hydrogen bonding in water molecules, influencing crystallization.

• Beyond Water: The effect has been observed in magnetic alloys, nanomechanical systems, and quantum systems, suggesting it’s a general cooling paradox.
• Applications: Understanding it could improve cryogenics, food preservation, and materials science.
• Recent Breakthrough: The 2026 Indian supercomputer simulation is the first to model ice formation showing the Mpemba effect, offering new clarity.

• Reproducibility Issues: Many experiments fail to consistently replicate the effect, leading to debates about whether it’s a universal law or condition-specific anomaly.
• Definition Variability: Different studies define “freezing faster” differently (time to first ice crystal vs. complete solidification), complicating comparisons.

• First fully digital census: Data collection will be paperless, using mobile apps and online platforms.
• Self‑enumeration option: Citizens can fill in their household details online before enumerators visit.
• Caste enumeration: For the first time in nearly 100 years, caste data will be collected alongside demographic details.
• Citizen convenience: Reduces dependency on enumerators, allows households to input accurate information themselves.

• Digital portal/app: Households will log in securely to provide details (family members, housing conditions, amenities, etc.).
• Verification: Enumerators will later cross‑check and validate entries during their 30‑day houselisting period.
• Accessibility: Designed to be user‑friendly, ensuring participation across urban and rural areas.

• Digital divide: Rural and low‑income households may face difficulties accessing or using the online system.
• Verification burden: Enumerators must ensure self‑entered data is accurate and consistent.
• Awareness campaigns: Government will need to educate citizens about how to use the self‑enumeration option.
• Data security: Ensuring privacy and protection of sensitive demographic and caste information.

• A Non-Cognizable Report (NCR) is a police record of a complaint about a non-cognizable offence—an offence where the police cannot arrest without a warrant and cannot investigate without prior approval of a magistrate.
• Nature of Offences: These are generally less serious offences such as defamation, public nuisance, minor assault, or simple hurt.
• Legal Basis: Earlier governed by Section 155 of CrPC, 1973, NCRs are now covered under Section 175 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023.

Aspect	FIR (First Information Report)	NCR (Non-Cognizable Report)
Type of Offence	Cognizable (serious offences like murder, rape, theft)	Non-cognizable (minor offences like defamation, nuisance)
Police Powers	Can arrest without warrant; can investigate directly	Cannot arrest without warrant; investigation only with magistrate’s permission
Registration	Mandatory when cognizable offence reported	Recorded but complainant is directed to magistrate
Authority	Police initiates investigation	Magistrate decides whether investigation should proceed
Impact	Leads to criminal trial directly	Often treated as private wrong; burden of prosecution lies on complainant

• Construction: Built in the 17th century under Shah Jahan’s reign, Turkman Gate was one of the southern gates of Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi).
• Name Origin: Named after Shah Turkman Bayabani, a 13th-century Sufi saint whose shrine lies nearby.
• Religious Landmark: The adjacent Faiz-e-Ilahi Mosque, built in the 18th century, is central to the area’s identity and has often been at the heart of disputes.

• Demolition Drive: On 31 May 1976, during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, Turkman Gate became infamous when slums were bulldozed under Sanjay Gandhi’s urban renewal program.
• Casualties: Official records cite 6 deaths, but independent researchers estimate 12–20+ fatalities.
• Symbolism: The incident is remembered as a stark example of political repression and police brutality, with a media blackout following the massacre.

• Ancient Roots: Mentioned in Sangam texts like Agananooru, the hill is celebrated as the place where Murugan vanquished the demon Surapadman.
• Sri Subramania Swamy Temple: Located at the foothills, this temple is one of the oldest in Tamilakam and a major pilgrimage site.
• Shared Sacred Space: Historically, the hill has been a confluence of Hindu, Jain, and Islamic traditions, with temples, caves, and dargahs coexisting.

• Deepam Controversy: A centuries-old ritual of lighting the Karthigai Deepam lamp at the hilltop pillar (Deepathoon) became a legal battle.
• Madras High Court Ruling (Jan 2026): The court upheld the temple’s right to light the lamp, dismissing government concerns about law and order. Judges criticized the Tamil Nadu government and Waqf Board for political interference.
• Sacred Ownership Debate: The hill is at the center of disputes over religious rights, reflecting broader questions of heritage and communal harmony.

• Replacement of Old Law: Supersedes the Insecticides Act, 1968 and Insecticides Rules, 1971, which no longer meet modern regulatory needs.
• Lifecycle Regulation: Covers the entire chain—manufacture, import, labeling, sale, transport, use, and disposal of pesticides.
• Union Control: Declares pesticide regulation a Union subject, centralizing oversight and reducing fragmented state-level regulation.
• Digital Transparency & Traceability: Introduces technology-driven systems to track pesticides, ensuring farmers receive authentic products.
• Stricter Penalties: Tougher punishments for counterfeit or substandard pesticides, aiming to protect farmers from exploitation.
• Accredited Testing Labs: Mandates accreditation of laboratories to guarantee quality testing before pesticides reach farmers.
• Institutional Framework: Proposes a two-tier structure—a Central Pesticides Authority and State-level bodies for implementation.
• Decriminalization of Petty Offences: Minor violations may be treated with civil penalties rather than criminal charges, reducing harassment.

• Implementation Capacity: Centralized control may face resistance from states used to autonomy.
• Digital Divide: Farmers in remote areas may struggle with digital systems unless proper training/support is provided.
• Industry Pushback: Stricter penalties and lab accreditation could raise compliance costs for pesticide manufacturers.
• Legal Drafting Issues: Critics note references to outdated laws (CrPC/IPC) in the draft, which need correction.

• Purpose: Provide a structured framework for healthcare facilities to assess and improve their quality of services, aiming for certification.
• Scope: Applicable to District Hospitals, Community Health Centres (CHCs), Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Urban PHCs, and more recently, Integrated Public Health Laboratories (IPHLs).
• Global Benchmark: Accredited by ISQua (International Society for Quality in Health Care), ensuring alignment with international best practices.

1. Service Provision – Availability and accessibility of healthcare services.
2. Patient Rights – Respect, privacy, and grievance redressal.
3. Inputs – Adequacy of infrastructure, equipment, drugs, and human resources.
4. Support Services – Diagnostics, pharmacy, laundry, kitchen, etc.
5. Clinical Care – Adherence to clinical protocols and treatment guidelines.
6. Infection Control – Hygiene, sterilization, biomedical waste management.
7. Quality Management – Continuous monitoring, audits, and corrective actions.
8. Outcome – Patient satisfaction, health indicators, and measurable results.

• Improves Trust: Patients gain confidence in public health facilities.
• Standardization: Ensures uniform quality across diverse states and regions.
• Efficiency: Streamlines processes and reduces variability in care.
• Global Recognition: Aligns India’s public health system with international quality standards.

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