• PM recently chaired the meeting of the 43^rd edition of PRAGATI involving Centre and State governments.

ABOUT PRAGATI

• PRAGATI stands for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.
• Launched –25 March 2015.
• PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive platform.
• The platform is aimed at addressing common man’s grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
• It seeks to bridge the inter-departmental gaps between various government bodies and to reduce the time for project implementation.
• PRAGATI is an Information and Communication Technology Platform that remains under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
• It uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management, video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.
• It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States)
• It provides a unique combination for cooperative federalism. This is done by bringing the Chief Secretaries of the states and the Secretaries of the GOI on one platform.
• The system will ride on, strengthen, and re-engineer the data bases of the CPGRAMS for grievances, the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
  • PRAGATI provides an interface and platform for all these three aspects.

• The Delhi High Court has ruled that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) stands exempted from rigours of RTI Act by virtue of Section 24 (Act not to apply to certain organizations) thereof.

ABOUT INTELLIGENCE BUREAU (IB)

• It is India’s intelligence agency which gathers intelligence from within the country and also executes counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism tasks.
• It was established in 1887 as the Central Special Branch.
• In addition to domestic intelligence responsibilities, the IB is particularly tasked with intelligence collection in border areas, following the 1951 recommendations of the Himmatsinhji Committee (also known as the North and North-East Border Committee), a task entrusted to military intelligence organizations, prior to independence in 1947.
• It functions under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• HQ- New Delhi.
• The IB draws its employees from law enforcement agencies such as the Indian Police Service (IPS), the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), and the military.
• The Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB) has always been an IPS officer.
  • The IB director is part of the Strategic Policy Group and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) of the National Security Council, and reports directly to the Prime Minister.
• The IB activities are highly confidential, and no publications other than the internal ones reveal their arcane workings.
• It is responsible for granting basic safety clearances to Indian diplomats and judges before their national oath.

It is also authorized to carry out wiretapping without a warrant.

• An adult male tiger, estimated to be about nine years old, was reportedly found dead near Kazhudhakatti stream in Amaravathy range in Tamil Nadu
• The carcass bore external injuries caused by a confrontation with a porcupine.
• The swollen front limbs and a portion of the chest indicated infection caused by piercings by the quill.

ABOUT INDIAN PORCUPINE

• The Indian porcupine (Hystrix indica) is found throughout southeast and central Asia and in parts of the Middle East, including such countries as India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Israel, Iran and Saudia Arabia.
• Indian Crested Porcupine is the largest rodent of India.
• A solitary creature locally known as Sahi inhabits deciduous forest, rocky terrain and opens countryside.
• It belongs to family of Hystricidaee. Old World Porcupine.
• It is covered with thick long quills which may reach up to 16 inches in length.
• Lifespan of 18 to 20 years
• This large herbivore is a nocturnal species which is often seen foraging at night, making a grunting sound while feeding on plants, fruits and roots.
• Porcupines follow monogamy and females produce a single litter per year having 2-4 pups.
• Protection Status
  • IUCN Red List – least concern
  • Wildlife Protection Act 1972– Schedule IV

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $400 million policy-based loan to India, aimed at backing urban reforms by way of boosting infrastructure quality, providing assured public services and efficient governance systems.
• The loan will be under ADB’s Sustainable Urban Development and Service Delivery Program’s Subprogram 2, which supports investment and reforms at the state and urban local body (ULB) levels.

ABOUT ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

• ADB was established in 1966 after a resolution was passed at first Ministerial Conference on Asian Economic Cooperation held by UN Economic Commission for Asia and Far East in 1963.
• It has 68 members- 49 are from within Asia and Pacific.
• India is a member.
• It is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
• Headquarters– Manilla, Philippines
• Further, it assists members and partners by providing loans, technical assistance, grants, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.
• It aims to promote social and economic development in Asia and the Pacific.
• ADB’s highest policy-making body is Board of Governors.
• ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).

• Pre-World Cup Paragliding tournament will begin in Bir-Billing in Kangra district.
• The tournament would be held from October 26 to November 2.
• About 120 paragliding pilots from around 28 countries would participate in the event.
• Bir-Billing is ranked among the top 10 paragliding sites of the world and attracts thousands of paragliding enthusiasts from across the world every year.
• Paragliding pilots and tourists fly solo or tandem flights, taking off from Billing ridge located at a height of 2,400 m from the sea level, hovering in skies along the ridges of Dhauladhar mountain ranges and landing at Bir.
• Open valley beyond Billing take off enables fliers to cover long distances.
• At present, record of flying 257 km in a single flight from Billing is in the name of India’s Debi Chaudhary.

• The government approved the inclusion of the Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project of Uttarakhand under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP), which will cost ₹2,584 crore.
• The project envisages the construction of a dam near Jamrani village across river Gola, a tributary of river Ram Ganga, in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
• The dam will feed the existing Gola barrage through its 40.5 km length of canal system and 244 km long canal system completed in 1981.
• The central support of ₹1,557.18 crore will be provided to Uttarakhand for completion of the project at an estimated cost of ₹2,584.10 crore, scheduled to be completed by March 2028.
• The project envisages additional irrigation of 57,065 hectares (9,458 hectares in Uttarakhand and 47,607 hectares in Uttar Pradesh) in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand, and Rampur and Bareilly districts in Uttar Pradesh.

• The World Polio Day is observed on 24^th October each year.
• The day is observed to raise awareness of the importance of polio vaccination to protect every child from this devastating disease and to honor those people whose efforts led to eradication of polio in many parts of the world.
• In 1988, poliovirus was present in 125 countries, paralyzing an estimated 1,000 children per day.
• That year, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched with a goal to eradicate polio worldwide.
• Polio remains consistently present in just two countries – Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• The theme for World Polio Day 2023 is “A healthier future for mothers and children.”

ABOUT POLIO

• Polio, a life-threatening disease, is caused by the poliovirus.
• The poliovirus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis.
• It majorly happens through the faecal-oral route or contaminated water or food and then the virus multiplies in the intestine.
  • From there, it can reach the nervous system and lead to paralysis.
• It mostly affects kids under the age of five.

• ‘International Migration Outlook 2023’ was recently released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

MAJOR FINDINGS

• India saw the highest migration flows to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in 2021 and 2022.
• Meanwhile in terms of nationalities, 13 million Indian citizens acquired the nationality of an OECD country in 2021.
• Inflows of refugees from Ukraine reached the highest level on record, OECD-wide, due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war; more than 10 million people have become either internally displaced or refugees in the OECD region.
• In terms of workers, migration flows from India (+172 per cent), Uzbekistan (+122 per cent) and Turkey (+240 per cent) rose sharply, making them primary countries of origin after Ukraine.

ABOUT OECD

• It is an international organization of 38 countries committed to democracy and the market economy.
• Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
• Founded in 1961.
• HQ- Château de la Muette in Paris, France.
• It publishes economic reports, statistical databases, analyses, and forecasts on the outlook for economic growth worldwide.
• The organization also seeks to eliminate bribery and other financial crime worldwide.
• Other reports and indices by OECD
  • Government at a Glance 2017 report.
  • OECD Better Life Index.

• The country’s first Nano Di-Ammonia Phosphate (DAP) plant by IFFCO near Kalol in Gandhinagar was inaugurated recently.
• The Nano liquid DAP plant in Kalol has been set up by IFFCO at the cost of 300 crore rupees.
• The plant has been developed in tune with the Aatmnirbhar Bharat.
• The plant will lead to a significant reduction in imports of DAP and also will bring down the logistics and warehousing costs.
• It will produce 5 crore bottles of Nano dap liquid equivalent to 25 tons of DAP.

ABOUT NANO DAP

• It is a concentrated phosphate-based fertilizer.
  • Nano fertilisers exploit the nanoscale porous domains on plant surfaces to deliver nutrients, improve the effectiveness of nitrogen delivery, and reduce losses to the environment.

• While one bag of conventional DAP costs around 1300 rupees, the farmers can get one bottle of nano liquid DAP for just 600 rupees which can be carried by farmers in their pockets
• It provides phosphorous nutrition throughout the crop growth and development cycle.
• A small bottle of 500 millilitres nano urea spray is said to be a substitute for a full bag of 45 kilogrammes urea.
• Nano-DAP is jointly manufactured by IFFCO and Coromandel International Limited (CIL).

• Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation presided over the launch of the National Cooperative for Exports Limited (NCEL), a venture that marks the union of cooperative sectors in India’s export efforts.
• The event saw the unveiling of the NCEL logo, website, and brochure.

ABOUT NCEL

• NCEL, established as an umbrella organization for cooperative sector exports, was registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002, on January 25
• It has an authorised share capital of ₹2,000 crore and those cooperative societies from the level of primary to apex interested in exports are eligible to become its members.
  • NCEL has bagged orders of ₹7,000 crore so far.
• Its objectives include, increasing exports, making farmers prosperous, providing global market for organic products, gaining a place for India in the global market for biofuel etc.
• It aims to focus on exporting the surplus available in the Indian cooperative sector by accessing wider markets beyond the geographical contours of the country.
• There are about 8 lakh cooperative societies in the country with over 29 crore members.