Today's Brief 17/01/2025

IE Analysis:https://youtu.be/rScaluFl2us?si=wpvodxBQHySFVVyn

Jansatta Analysis

1 .Republic Day Guest:  (GS Paper II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)

  President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, will be the Chief Guest at the 76th Republic Day celebrations this year. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Subianto will pay a state visit to India on the 25th and 26th of January..

2 .Startup India initiative completes 9 years:

(GS Paper II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)

is a flagship program launched by the Government of India in 2016 to foster innovation and entrepreneurship. It aims to create a conducive environment for startups to thrive, promoting economic growth and job creation.

Since the launch of the initiative on 16th January, 2016, Startup India has rolled out several programs with the objective of supporting entrepreneurs, and transforming India into a country of job creators instead of job seekers.

The broad scope of Startup India’s programs is outlined in the Action Plan below, and is managed by a dedicated Startup India Team, which reports to the Department for Industrial Policy and Promotion (DPIIT).

The 19-Point Action Plan envisages the following forms of support for Startups, and more:

- Enhanced infrastructure including incubation centres

- Easier IPR facilitation, including easier patent filing

- A better regulatory environment including tax benefits, easier compliance, improved of setting up a company, faster exit mechanisms and more

- An economic stimulus in the form a INR 10,000 crore Fund of Funds managed by SIDBI, with the goal of increasing funding opportunities

- This website, also known as the Startup India Portal, which offers a range of useful resources and a vast networking database for entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the Startup ecosystem­

- A toll-free helpline and quick email query resolution for start

3 . Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar:

(General Studies-I (250 marks)Indian Heritage and Culture, History, and Geography of the World and Society)

 Thiruvalluvar was a renowned Tamil poet and philosopher who is best known as the author of the Tirukkural, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love.

 His most famous work is the Tirukkural, a collection of 133 chapters with 10 couplets each, totaling 1330 couplets.

Thiruvalluvar's teachings continue to inspire people around the world. His emphasis on virtue, righteousness, and compassion has made him a revered figure in Tamil literature and beyond. The Tirukkural is considered a valuable guide to living a meaningful and ethical life.

4 .Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

(General Studies-III (250 marks)Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management)

 is a haven for wildlife enthusiasts, nestled amidst the Western Ghats in Karnataka, India. This reserve, known for its high tiger density, offers a unique opportunity to witness the majestic Bengal tiger in its natural habitat. 

previously known as Rajiv Gandhi National Park is named after the stream ‘Nagarahole’ which literally means serpent stream (Nagara – serpent, hole – stream) in Kannada language. The protected area is located in both the districts of Mysuru and Kodagu with an area of 847.981 sq.km (core – 643.392 sq.km and buffer-204.589 sq.km )

The Kabini and Taraka reservoirs are large waterbodies located towards the west and south eastern parts of the park respectively.

Nagarahole is contiguous with Wayanad wildlife sanctuary (Kerala) to the south and Bandipur Tiger Reserve to its south eastern parts.

These forests of Malenad landscape in the western ghats support large assembles of carnivores and herbivores: Tiger (Panthera tigris), Leopard (Panthera pardus), Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus), Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus), Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus), Gaur (Bos gaurus), Sambar (Rusa unicolor), Chital (Axis axis), Muntjac(Muntiacus muntjak) , Four Horned Antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), Wild Pig (Sus scrofa), Mouse Deer (Moschiola indica) and South-western langur (Semnopithecus hypoleucos)

The Iruppu Falls is located in the Brahmagiri Range in the Kodagu district of Karnataka, India, bordering the Wayanad district of Kerala.

5.India Singapore celebrate 60 years of establishment of diplomatic relations:

 (GS Paper II: Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations)

The year 2025 marks the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore.

The joint logo incorporates elements: colours from the Indian and Singaporean National flags, the Lotus (National flower of India) & Orchid (National flower of Singapore), and the number 60 highlighting the significant milestone of the 60th anniversary. Overall, the logo reads "India Singapore 60 years of diplomatic relations”.

The placement of these elements symbolises the enduring friendship, mutual trust and shared values between the two countries.

The Act East Policy focuses on the extended neighbourhood in the Indo-Pacific region, with ASEAN as its core.

The objective of Act East Policy is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Indo-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels, thereby providing enhanced connectivity in its broadest sense, including political, economic, cultural and people to people relations.

India's "Act East Policy" was launched in November 2014 at the 12th ASEAN-India Summit held in Myanmar.

Itpolicy builds upon the earlier "Look East Policy" initiated in 1992.

6 .Bhashini Platform: 

(General Studies-III (250 marks)Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management)

, the National Language Technology Mission (NLTM), was launched by the Prime Minister in July 2022 to provide language technology solutions as digital public goods through the Bhashini platform (https://bhashini.gov.in).

Bhashini is a platform that helps translate languages spoken in India, like Hindi, Tamil, or Bengali. It uses special technology called AI to understand and translate these languages. This makes it easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other and access information online.

This is aimed to be achieved by harnessing emerging technologies such as AI/ML, and NLP to develop and share open-source models, tools and solutions (products and services) for Indian languages with ecosystem development involving startups, industries, academia, research groups, enthusiasts and State/Central Governments

7 .Coal imports in the country have dropped by over three percent from April to October last year. It has dropped from over 154 million tonnes to over 149 million tonnes during the same period in the previous year.

• Last Year: From April to October, India imported over 154 million tonnes of coal.

• This Year: During the same period, imports dropped to over 149 million tonnes, which is a decrease of over three percent.

India is the second-largest coal producer globally, after China.

 Coal is a crucial fuel source for India's energy needs, particularly for electricity generation.

State-Owned Dominance: Coal India Limited (CIL) Headquartered in Kolkata, India is the largest coal-producing company in the world, contributing significantly to India's domestic production.

8 .Mission Mausam:

(General Studies-III (250 marks)Technology, Economic Development, Biodiversity, Environment, Security, and Disaster Management)

to be chiefly implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is envisaged to be a multi-faceted and transformative initiative to tremendously boost India’s weather and climate-related science, research, and services. It will help to better equip stakeholders, including citizens and last-mile users, in tackling extreme weather events and the impacts of climate change. 

The ambitious program will help broaden capacity and resilience across communities, sectors, and ecosystems in the long run.

Three institutes of the Ministry of Earth Sciences: the India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting will primarily implement Mission Mausam

These institutions will be supported by other MoES institutions (Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, and National Institute of Ocean Technology), along with collaborating national and international Institutes, Academia and Industries, furthering India’s leadership in weather and climate sciences and