Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.

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AYUSH

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today dedicated the All India Institute of Ayurveda, in New Delhi, to the nation.

• Celebration of Dhanvantari Jayanti as Ayurveda Divas.• The Prime Minister asserted that nations cannot

progress unless they value and cherish their history and heritage. Those nations who leave their heritagebehind, are destined to lose their identity, he added.

• The Prime Minister said that when India was not independent, its knowledge, and its traditions such as Yoga and Ayurveda were belittled.

• He said that in the last three years, this situation has changed to quite an extent; and the faith of the people is being restored in the best of our heritage.

• The pride in our heritage is reflected in the way people gather for Ayurveda Day or Yoga Day, he added.

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• The Prime Minister said that Ayurveda is not just a medical practice, but encompasses public health and environment health as well.

• Preventive + Curative

• That is why the Government has laid stress on integrating Ayurveda, Yoga and other AYUSH systems into the public healthcare system.

• The Prime Minister said that the Government is working towards establishing an Ayurveda hospital in every district of the country.

• He said that more than 65 AYUSH hospitals have been developed in the last three years.

• The Prime Minister said that herbal and medicinal plants can be a significant source of income, globally, and India should leverage its capabilities in this regard.

• He said the Union Government has approved 100 percent FDI in healthcare systems.

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• The Prime Minister said that the Government is focused on providing affordablehealthcare for the poor.

• He said the stress has been on preventive healthcare, and improving affordability and access to treatment.

• He said Swachhata – or cleanliness – is a simple mechanism of preventive healthcare.

• He said the Union Government has got 5 crore toilets built in three years.

• The Prime Minister said that new AIIMS are being established to help the people get better access to healthcare.

• He mentioned measures such as capping prices of stents and knee implants; and establishment of Jan Aushadhi Kendras for providing medicines at affordable prices.

• On the occasion, the Prime Minister also gave away the Yoga Award to the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune.

• He also released the Ayurvedic Standard Treatment Guidelines developed by the AYUSH Ministry.

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Mains Topic: Analysis on Information and Black Money

• There is some debate within Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance on making public three reports on black money.

• Members have authorised the chairman to take a call.

• The White Paper on Black Money, tabled in Parliament in 2012, underscored the need for a credible estimate of black money.

• However, it did not include reports of the three institutions tasked with quantifying the magnitude of black money.

1. National Institute of Public Finance and Policy

2. National Council of Applied Economic Research

3. National Institute of Financial Management

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Arguments

• All results of publicly funded research should be made public, save what the government explicitly classifies as being related to state security.

• In a democracy, the right to information is a rudimentary form of information empowerment• The goal is for the state to adopt a Duty to Publish, under which all information is put in the

public domain, whether anyone actively seeks it or not, except information that can compromise national security or personal privacy.

• On black money, the government can withhold any information that relates to names or specific accounts of individuals, and publish the rest.

Steps required

• The GST is the strongest instrument the country has for stemming the generation of black money.

• This has to be complemented with reform of political funding. • The Election Commission can mandate monthly publication of expenses at every level by

every party, open to challenge by others, and ask parties to disclose the source of income to finance that expenditure.

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Ministry of Finance

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today launched gold options trading on the leading commodity bourse MCX.

• This is one of the steps towards formalising trade in the yellow metal.

• Options are derivatives which give a buyer the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specific price on or before a certain date.

• Mr Jaitley emphasised that the government is making efforts to formalise gold trade.

• He said, this is the first product for options trading that the regulator SEBI has allowed after 14 years of commencement of commodity exchanges in the country.

• The gold options contract launched today allows trading in 1 kg gold.

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Vice President of India

• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has asked corporate bodies and private agencies to have a separate corpus for promoting science and technology research.

• Addressing the valedictory function of the four-day India International Science Festival in Chennai yesterday, he said India had a glorious tradition in science and technology.• Note for students: Items regarding past glory of India in S&T are good examples for mains

answer writing.

• He asked the youth to reclaim it by their dedicated and innovative research activities.

• He said, a proper ecosystem for innovative science research should be ensured for the progress of the nation.

• He also observed that science and technology would help reduce disparities between urban and rural areas and economic divide.

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• "Science is the corner stone for the progress of mankind. Scientific inventions have revolutionised the world and shaped every aspect of the modern life. Indians have made significant contributions from time immemorial in the field of Science from ancient times and now in the forefront of the state of the art, space technologies and the IT revolution teaching the world. "

• Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said, non-polluting firecrackers would be developed before Diwali next year.• "By the time, we approach the next Diwali and will ensure that we produce for the country

crackers which produce zero pollution, which has zero side effects for health of children, and which has zero damaging to the environment which will make everybody happy."

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International Monetary Fund

• IMF which is featuring a case study on digital revolution in its new book said, India is currently pursuing an exciting route of digital transformation which can be a learning experience for everyone.

• Director of the International Monetary Fund's Fiscal Affairs Department, VitorGaspar said, India is currently pursuing "an alternative and very exciting" route in which it is making the use of digital technology and digital records in public administration with new technologies that make use of financial inclusion and bio metrics.

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Portugal

• A spate of wildfires in central and north Portugal which started at the weekend has killed at least 39 people.

• Civil Defence authorities said dozens of the 145 fires still raging are considered serious.

• To the north, fires which broke out across the border in Spain's Galicia region claimed at least three lives.

• Two of the victims were found in a burned-out car in Spain.

• Thousands of firefighters are battling the flames, which erupted after a hot dry summer.

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Questions

1. Provide 5 examples of contribution of India in the field of Science and Technology.

Hint: For a holistic answer, try to include examples from various subjects such as History. That means you can include contribution done in ancient India.

2. What do you understand by a Peninsula? Name the biggest peninsula of the world.

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