The Youth which represents the most vibrant and dynamic segment of the population has been given a new hope through Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK) of the Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports during the year. Series of initiatives taken by the Deptt. of Youth Affairs have resulted in greater participation of youth in the Nation Building. Restructuring of the Schemes of the Department of Youth Affairs

The Schemes of the Department have been consolidated and restructured into 3 compact schemes, w.e.f. 01.04.2016, as follows: 1. Eight Schemes are merged into a new ‘umbrella’ Scheme called “Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)”. 2. National Service Scheme (NSS) 3. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) The major achievements under the above Schemes/ Sub-Schemes during 2018-19 are given below:

1. Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK) A. Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS): NYKS, with about 36.22 lakh youth enrolled through 1.68 lakh youth clubs, has been working all over the Country to develop the personality of the youth and to engage them in nation-building activities.

Some significant initiatives/ achievements of NYKS during the year are as follows: 8.47 lakh saplings were planted by NYKS volunteers. 13,432 units of blood was donated by NYKS volunteers.

1,764 education in basic vocationsand soft skills programmes were organised, involving 51,508 youth. 1694 Youth Club Development Programmes were organised, involving 83,514 youth. 1336 Sports Meets at Block level were organised, involving 1,77,688 youth. 8126 Programmes were held to celebrate days of national and international significance, involving 11,05,136 youth. 230 District Youth Conventions were organised, involving 1,84,5024 youth. International Day of Yoga on 21st June 2018 was observed by NYKS at 38,356 locations across India by involving 23.68 lakh youth.

Swachhta Programme was conducted at 1,15,437locations involving 12,07,686youth for cleaning of 8,577 Schools / colleges, 7,797 Hospitals and 21,905 statues.

Water Conservation - 13,757 awareness creation programmes were conducted by involving 3.9 lakh youth; 2430 new water bodies were created and 3437 water sources were maintained.

Inderdhanush Programme - in which 59,961children were immunized with the help of service providers. National Unity Day and Run for Unity Programme was conducted by district Nehru Yuva Kendras in India wherein 2.6 lakh youth were involved.

Swachta Hi Sewa Campaign in East Champaran - Swachta Hi Sewa Campaign was launched by district Nehru Yuva Kendra, East Champaran (Bihar) from 14th September to 25th September, 2018 in which more than 300 youth participated. Different types of activities such as Cleaning of Moti Jheel, Cleanliness drive to clean streets, Railway Station and common places.

Clean Ganga - NYKS is working with National Mission for Clean Ganga to spread awareness for cleanliness & sanitation in villages along Ganga River. Ganga Vriksharopan Saptah (Plantation Week) was carried out in 53 selected blocks of 4 States of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. 82,819 sapling were planted in collaboration with Forest Department and National Mission for Clean Ganga from 9th July to 15th July 2018.

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat is being organized Inter State Youth Exchange Programme in 15 pairing States. So far, 4 such programmes have been completed in the states of Telangana, Punjab, Kerala and Chhattisgarh in which 401 youth from pairing States participated.

Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan Programme - NYKS was the major partner for implementation of Poshan Abhiyan programme across the country. Different types of activities such as Gosthi, seminars and Discussions, Lectures by Eminent Resource Persons on Focus Areas of Poshan Maah viz. pregnancy care, right age of marriage, child care, birth spacing, immunization, breast feeding upto 2yrs and complimentary feeding and Maintenance and adequate sanitation facilities in the village, etc were organized. Besides these, Door to door campaigning in the village focusing on Focus Areas of Poshan Maah, Rallies, Run, Padyatra, Cycle Yatra were organized. The efforts of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and NYKS were appreciated at the highest level. Ministry of Women and Child Welfare awarded for the exemplary work.

Parakram Parv, 2018 – NYKS has organised various programmes and activities and participated in events to mark the Second Anniversary of Surgical Strikes during 28th September 2018 to 30th September 2018, organised by the Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India in various locations across the country. More than 1786 youth & officials of NYKS participated in the programme & activities across the country.

Health Mela- With the support of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, Heart Care Foundation organised 25th Perfect Health Mela on 23rd October, 2018 in Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. In this programme, 1000 youth from NYKs participated. Well known Artists, Specialists, Doctors and Social Workers were also present.

B. International Cooperation: This Department seeks to operate international Youth exchange programmes with various countries to develop international perspective among the youth and also to collaborate with various international agencies on youth development. Some significant achievements during the year are as follows;

C. National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development (NPYAD): National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development (NPYAD) along with other Schemes of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has been merged into one ‘Umbrella Scheme’ called Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakarm (RYSK) for providing support to Government/ non-Government organisations for undertaking activities for development of adolescent and youth.

During financial year 2018-19, financial assistance has been given to 5Voluntary Organisations including All India Level Organisations. Youth Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas will be held on 21st January, 2019 at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The 6th North East Youth Festival was organized at Agartala, Tripura from 15th to 18thNovember, 2017. This Year Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2017 was conferred to 10 (Ten) Awardees for adventure in Land, Water, Air and Life time Achievements.

2. National Service Scheme (NSS): NSS, with about 4.13 million student youth enrolled in 42958 NSS units spread over through 451 Universities/ +2 Councils, 17996 Colleges/Technical Institutions and 12,827 Senior Secondary Schools across the country, has been working for development of personality and character of youth through voluntary community service. Some significant initiatives/ achievements of NSS during the year are as follows:

NSS has been restructured as a Central Sector Scheme w.e.f. 1.4.2016. The Scheme is now a Central Sector Scheme.

NSS Volunteers have been actively participating in Swachh Bharat Mission activities across the country. During the Swachh Bharat Pakhwada observed by the NSS Volunteers, they cleaned 2276 Hospital, 1713 Dispensary, 1665 Community Centres, 534 Old Age Homes, 554 Historical Places, 236 Orphanages, 263 Centres for Disabled, 748 Railway Stations, 3660 Bus Stops, 1339 Statues and 801 Archeological Sites and Tourist Places. Film making and Essay Competition was organized by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in collaboration with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for NSS Volunteers.

Approximately 27000 NSS volunteers participated in 100 Hours Swachh Bharat Summer Internship Programme Organized by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

On the occasion of International Day of Yoga (21.06.2018), about 25.78 lakh NSS Volunteers participated in various yoga programmes across the country. 18,79,675 saplings were planted by NSS volunteers. 1,91,581 units of blood was donated by NSS volunteers.

9402 health/eye/Immunization camps were organised, in which 464622 NSS Volunteers participated. 38,710 Awareness programmes/rallies were organised on issues of relevance to the community, in which 25.89 lakh NSS Volunteers participated.

62.50 lakh volunteer-hours of Shramadaan was undertaken by NSS volunteers during the year. 34,728 NSS Volunteers were imparted Training on Self -Defence. Awareness on GST and Digital payments were organized by NSS Units throughout the country.

3. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD): During the period, 162training/capacity building/ workshop, conference and other programmes were organized involving 6,663participants including NSS Officers, NYKS Officials, Faculty/ Teachers, Officials from State Govt. industries department & executives from NGOs etc.

Out of the above programmes, 35ToTprogrammes were organized through which 1023 functionaries of NYKS and other officials of NSS were trained on themes such as Environment Education, Employability Skills, youth health, peace building, ICT based entrepreneurship for young rural women, education policies and programmes, life skills etc.

RGNIYD recently brought out the India Youth Development Index and Report - 2017 as part of its documentation activity of the National Youth Resource Centre. As per the mandate of the Institute to disseminate youth related information among the key stakeholders and as suggested by the Executive Council of RGNIYD in its recent meeting, three Regional Dissemination Workshops on India Youth Development Index – 2017 were organised for the key stakeholders in the field of Youth Development as per the details provided below:

1. Northern Eastern Regional Dissemination Workshop on India Youth Development Index – 2017 held on 20 August 2018 at the Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati

2. Northern Regional Dissemination Workshop on India Youth Development Index – 2017 held on 17 September 2018 at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi 3. Dissemination Workshop on India Youth Development Index – 2017 for Southern, Eastern and Western States held on 26 October 2018 at RGNIYD, Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu Constituency Management System for JK-11 Sonawari Constituency, Jammu and Kashmir

In the Academic Programmes, 182 Students enrolled for the Academic year 2017-18 and 2018-19 where most of the states are represented

B.Voc Programme on Apparel Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship and Fashion Design and Retail started in collaboration with Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC), Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India is being run in 19 ATDC Centres with total 663 students enrolled in these campus

About Paika rebellion: Two-hundred years ago in 1817, a valiant uprising of soldiers led by Buxi Jagabandhu (Bidyadhar Mohapatra) took place in Khurda of Odisha. This is known as Paika rebellion.

Reason for the revolt: The Paikas were the traditional land-owning militia of Odisha and served as warriors. When armies of the East India Company overran most of Odisha in 1803, the Raja of Khurda lost his primacy and the power and prestige of the Paikas went on a decline. The British were not comfortable with these aggressive, warlike new subjects and set up a commission under Walter Ewer to look into the issue.

The commission recommended that the hereditary rent-free lands granted to the Paikas be taken over by the British administration and this recommendation was zealously adhered to. They revolted against the British. However, the rebellion had several other underlying causes – like the rise in the price of salt, abolition of the cowrie currency for payment of taxes and an overtly extortionist land revenue policy.

Although initially the Company struggled to respond they managed to put down the rebellion by May 1817. Many of the Paik leaders were hung or deported. Jagabandhu surrendered in 1825.

CDSCO has directed Drug Controllers of all the States and Union Territories to monitor the sale, manufacture and distribution of Isotretinoin.

Background: Isotretinoin is an oral drug, which is used in the treatment of severe acne. Isotretinoin capsules of 10 mg/20 mg were approved by CDSCO in 2002 for the treatment of cystic and conglobate acne, and severe nodular acne unresponsive to antibiotic therapy. It was later found that Isotretinoin can cause birth defects in progeny if not taken without proper guidance.

About CDSCO: The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India.

Functions: Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for approval of New Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials, laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country and coordination of the activities of State Drug Control Organizations by providing expert advice with a view to bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

CDSCO along with state regulators, is jointly responsible for grant of licenses of certain specialized categories of critical Drugs such as blood and blood products, I. V. Fluids, Vaccine and Sera.

Who are these agencies? The 10 agencies include Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence;, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency Cabinet Secretariat (RAW), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (For service areas of Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Assam only), and Commissioner of Police, Delhi.

Highlights of the Order: The ministry has vested the authority on the agencies under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Rule 4 of the Information Technology Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009. The order mandates for a subscriber or service provider or any person in charge of the computer resource to extend technical assistance to the agencies. Non-compliance will invite seven-year imprisonment and fine.

Concerns raised: Only data in motion could be intercepted earlier. But now data revived, stored and generated can also be intercepted as powers of seizure have been given. This means not just calls or emails, but any data found on a computer can be intercepted. The agencies will also have powers to seize the devices. The sweeping powers given to agencies to snoop phone calls and computers without any checks and balances is extremely worrisome. This is likely to be misused.

Implications: The additional capital could help as many as five such state-run banks exit the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework that mandates them to pare lending to companies and cut concentration of loans to certain sectors. Eleven banks were put under the PCA framework by the Reserve Bank of India between February 2014 and January 2018.

The government had budgeted ₹65,000 crore for infusion into public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalization bonds this fiscal, of which ₹42,000 crore is still to be allotted. With the additional ₹41,000 crore of capital infusion by 31 March, the government will be infusing a total ₹83,000 crore into public sector banks this year.

The capital infusion will be utilized to ensure that the better-performing banks under the PCA framework meet their regulatory capital norms and non-PCA banks do not breach the threshold.

Concerns associated with recapitalization of banks: The government as the major owner is free to recapitalise but the issue is, at what cost, for how long, and whether recapitalisation alone is enough. The government is finding it increasingly difficult to recapitalize public sector banks due to the compulsion to adhere to the stringent budgetary deficit benchmarks.

Bankers become lackadaisical toward debt recovery and tend to escalate provisions and contingencies to be adjusted against the fresh capital. In different-banks-same-pay situations, employees in the loss-making, but recapitalized, banks become unenthusiastic while those in profit-making, but not recapitalized are demotivated. It also implies cross-subsidization: dividend-paying PSU banks subsidizing the non-dividend paying. Ultimately, systemic efficiency suffers.

Conclusion: PSBs are in very real danger of losing not only their market share but also their identity unless the government intervenes with surgical precision and alacrity. Hence, policymakers and bankers need to put their heads together and come up with a smart option to resolve an issue that can no longer be put on the backburner.

What to study? For Prelims and Mains: ATAGS- key features and significance.

Context: The Army has begun finalising the Preliminary Specifications Qualitative Requirements (PSQR) of the indigenously-designed heavy artillery gun, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS).

The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field.

Composition and structure: Saturn’s rings are made up of billions of particles ranging from grains of sand to mountain-size chunks. Composed predominantly of water-ice, the rings also draw in rocky meteoroids as they travel through space.

Though Saturn appears surrounded by a single, solid ring when viewed by an amateur astronomer, several divisions exist. The rings are named alphabetically in the order of discovery. Thus the main rings are, from farthest from the planet to closest, A, B and C. A gap 2,920 miles wide (4,700 kilometers), known as the Cassini Division, separates the A and B rings. The rings themselves contain a number of gaps and structures. Some are created by Saturn’s many small moons, while others continue to puzzle to astronomers.

Is it only the Saturn to have rings? Saturn is not the only planet in the solar system to have rings — Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also contain faint ring systems — but with its satellites spanning three-quarters of the Earth-moon distance (175,000 miles or 282,000 km), it is by far the largest and most visible.

National Supercomputing Mission (NSM): The Mission envisages empowering national academic and R&D institutions spread over the country by installing a vast supercomputing grid comprising of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities.

These supercomputers will also be networked on the National Supercomputing grid over the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NKN is another programme of the government which connects academic institutions and R&D labs over a high speed network.

The Mission includes development of highly professional High Performance Computing (HPC) aware human resource for meeting challenges of development of these applications. India looks forward to create a cluster of machines for weather forecasting, drug discovery and data mining.

Agencies involved: The Mission would be implemented and steered jointly by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) over a period of seven years. The tender to build these high performance computers (HPC) had been floated by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). Atos would be deploying its energy efficient Direct Liquid Cooled Bull Sequana supercomputers in India.

Background: World-wide supercomputing facilities have enabled countries in their S&T capabilities in areas such as designing vehicles, aeroplanes, massive structures like high rise buildings and bridges, infrastructure, discovery of new life saving drugs, discovery and extraction of new energy sources including oil, natural gas etc.

Over the years, supercomputers have benefitted mankind in several ways. Weather prediction has reached accuracy of forecast as well as real time tracking of natural phenomenon. Timely warning of cyclones in the recent past have saved many lives and property. The Mission aims to further such capabilities beyond current levels.

Context: The Union Government has announced to confer the Prime Minister’s Shram Awards 2017 to 40 workers across country. About Shram Awards: The Prime Minister’s Shram Awards were instituted in 1985 by the Government of India.

This national award is conferred on workers for outstanding contributions that improve productivity, innovation, and indigenization, resulting in saving foreign exchange. The award is also given for long-term exceptional dedicated work.

The objective of the Prime Ministers Shram Awards is to recognize the outstanding contributions made by workmen as defined in the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947 in organizations both in public and private sector and who have distinguished record of performance, devotion to duty of a high order, specific contribution in the field of productivity and proven innovative abilities among others.

There are four types of awards: Shram Ratna: Two lakhs and recognition of their contribution to their field (a Sanad). Shram Bhushan: 100000 and a Sanad. Shram Vir / Shram Veerangana: 60000 and a Sanad. Shram Devi / Shram Shree: 40000 and a Sanad.