A new Vande Bharat Express linking Bengaluru with coastal Karnataka and Goa was flagged off from Bengaluru by the Prime Minister.
The train runs from Yesvantpur Junction in Bengaluru to Madgaon in Goa, through Mangaluru, with stops that include Udupi, Kollur, Murdeshwar, Gokarna and Karwar.
The route takes it down the Western Ghats and then along the coast of Karnataka.
The rake has sixteen coaches, made up of Executive Chair Car and Chair Car coaches.
From Yesvantpur the train leaves at 7.35 am and reaches Madgaon at 8.55 pm the same day, and it runs six days a week.
Regular services on the route began on the Sunday after the flagging off.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Mangaluru is a very important area in coastal Karnataka and that the service will connect Madgaon, Mangaluru and Bengaluru.
Vande Bharat is India's self-propelled chair-car train set service, run without a separate locomotive.
Why it matters for exams: The durable fact is the route of the new Vande Bharat Express, from Bengaluru through Mangaluru to Madgaon in Goa, over the Sakleshpur ghat section of the Western Ghats.
A new planetarium named COSMOS-Mysuru was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister at Mysuru in Karnataka.
It stands at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Centre for Higher Learning at the foothills of the Chamundi Hills.
The facility is described as India's first LED planetarium and as the world's first planetarium with a tilted LED dome.
A tilted dome puts the screen at an angle to the floor, so the audience faces the projected sky more directly than in a flat-floor dome.
Speaking at the dedication, the Prime Minister said opening the space sector to private players has let young innovators build and launch their own rockets and place satellites in orbit.
He said the Indian Space Research Organisation has built a satellite-based system that helps fishermen reach safety, and that the same capability feeds early warning for calamities.
He also recalled early Indian astronomers such as Aryabhata and Varahamihira and the Panchanga calendar tradition.
The dedication was reported by the public broadcaster's news service.
Name:COSMOS-MysuruClaim:World's first tilted LED dome planetariumHost campus:Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Centre for Higher Learning, Mysuru
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the name COSMOS-Mysuru, its claim as the world's first tilted LED dome planetarium and India's first LED planetarium, and its location at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Centre for Higher Learning in Mysuru.
India's exports reached an all-time high of nearly 90 billion dollars in October, the Commerce and Industry Minister said in New Delhi.
Of that total, about 50 billion dollars came from merchandise and about 40 billion dollars from services.
The figure was given by Minister Piyush Goyal at the inaugural ceremony of the India International Trade Fair.
The fair is in its 45th edition and carries the theme Vikas aur Virasat, meaning development and heritage.
The fourteen-day fair opened to visitors the day after the inaugural ceremony.
The pairing of goods and services in one monthly total is how India reports its overall export performance.
The announcement was carried by the public broadcaster's news service.
Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are the record monthly export total of nearly 90 billion dollars, its split of about 50 billion dollars in merchandise and about 40 billion dollars in services, and the theme Vikas aur Virasat of the 45th India International Trade Fair.
The Constitution leaves the duties and powers of the Comptroller and Auditor-General to Parliament. Article 149 says Parliament shall by law prescribe those duties and powers over the accounts of the Union, the States and any other authority or body, and until it does so the holder of the office keeps the powers the Auditor-General had before the Constitution came into force. Article 150 provides that the form in which the accounts of the Union and the States are kept is prescribed by the President on the advice of the auditor. Article 151 settles where the reports travel: Union audit reports go to the President, who causes them to be laid before each House of Parliament, and State audit reports go to the Governor, who causes them to be laid before the State Legislature. Under Article 148 the service conditions of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department are made by rules of the President after consultation with the auditor, and the administrative expenses of the office, including salaries and pensions, are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India. The same Article bars the holder from any further office under the Union or a State after leaving the post.
Duties and powers prescribed by:Parliament by law, under Article 149Form of accounts prescribed by:The President on the auditor's advice, under Article 150Union audit reports laid before:Each House of Parliament, by the President, under Article 151Administrative expenses of the office:Charged on the Consolidated Fund of India
Why it matters for exams: Article 149 lets Parliament fix the auditor's duties, Article 150 gives the President the power to prescribe the form of accounts on the auditor's advice, and Article 151 routes Union reports to Parliament and State reports to the State Legislature.
Indian Audit and Accounts DepartmentIndian Audit and Accounts Department — The department whose service conditions the President makes by rules after consulting the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
Consolidated Fund of IndiaConsolidated Fund of India — The fund on which the audit office's salaries, allowances and pensions are charged, so they are not voted on each year.
The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act is the law Parliament made to fix who may be appointed to the Commission and what it may do. The Chairman must be a person with experience in public affairs. Each of the four other members must come from at least one of four described groups: a person who is or has been qualified to be appointed a judge of a High Court, a person with special knowledge of the finances and accounts of government, a person with wide experience in financial matters and administration, and a person with special knowledge of economics. The law also disqualifies anyone who is of unsound mind, is an undischarged insolvent, has been convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude, or has a financial or other interest likely to affect the discharge of the work. On powers, the Commission determines its own procedure and, in the manner of a civil court trying a suit, may summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses, require the production of documents and requisition public records from any court or office. It may require any person to furnish information it thinks useful or relevant, and that person is legally bound to supply it. For enforcing the attendance of witnesses its jurisdiction runs across the territory of India.
Qualification of the Chairman:Experience in public affairsQualification groups for the four members:High Court judge eligibility, government finance and accounts, financial matters and administration, economicsJurisdiction for enforcing attendance of witnesses:The whole territory of India
Why it matters for exams: The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act is the law that sets the four qualification groups for members, the disqualifications, and the civil court powers of summoning witnesses and requisitioning public records.
The Central Information Commission was constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005, with effect from 12 October 2005. Its powers and functions sit in sections 18, 19, 20 and 25 of that Act. Section 19 gives it the second appeal, which is the appeal a citizen may bring after the first appellate authority inside a public authority has dealt with the request. Section 18 carries the powers and functions of the Commission, among them receiving and inquiring into complaints, including a complaint that a person was not able to file a request for information at all. The Commission's functions also take in directions on record keeping and on the disclosures a public authority should make on its own motion. Section 20 is the penalty provision. Section 25 carries the monitoring and reporting work, under which the Commission prepares an Annual Report. The Commission's jurisdiction runs over all Central Public Authorities, and its decisions are final and binding.
Sections carrying the Commission's powers:Sections 18, 19, 20 and 25Jurisdiction:All Central Public AuthoritiesStatus of its decisions:Final and binding
Why it matters for exams: The Central Information Commission is constituted under the Right to Information Act, and sections 18, 19, 20 and 25 of that Act carry its complaint, second appeal, penalty and annual reporting powers.
Second appealSecond appeal under the Right to Information Act — The appeal a citizen may bring to the Commission after the first appellate authority in the public authority has dealt with the request.
Public AuthorityPublic Authority — The bodies covered by the Right to Information Act; the Commission's jurisdiction extends over all Central ones.
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research set up the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources in December 1983, and the bureau's own history page records that it began in a rented premises at Allahabad. The purpose set out for it was research related to the conservation of the fish germplasm resources of the country. Permanent infrastructure came up in 1999 at Canal Ring Road, Telibagh, in Lucknow, with an administrative block, laboratories, a farm and a residential complex covering an area of 52 acres. The mandate listed on that page covers the collection, classification and cataloguing of fish genetic resources, the maintenance and preservation of fish genetic material for the conservation of endangered fish species, and the evaluation and valuation of indigenous as well as exotic fish species. The vision the bureau states is to assess and conserve fish genetic resources so that they are protected as intellectual property, used in a sustainable way, and left for posterity. Its library holds more than 6950 books and subscribes to 27 foreign and 68 Indian journals. The page also records that the council gave the bureau the Sardar Patel Best Institute Award for the year 2011, and that the bureau established the Ganga Aquarium, which it describes as one of the largest public aquariums in the country.
Parent council:Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchFirst location:AllahabadPermanent campus:Telibagh, LucknowCampus area:52 acres
Why it matters for exams: The bureau's parent council, its first home at Allahabad, its permanent campus at Lucknow and its mandate over fish genetic resources are all fixed facts that recur in science and agriculture questions.
The history page of the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources traces the idea back to 1926, when the then Royal Commission on Agriculture recommended that livestock production in India needed research in a planned and systematic manner and stressed the need for an institution on animal genetics and breeding. A Genetic Research Unit was later set up at the Imperial Veterinary Research Institute at Izatnagar in the early forties, and it grew into a full division soon after independence. The institute itself was set up on 21 September 1984 on the campus of the Southern Regional Station of the National Dairy Research Institute at Bangalore. It was shifted to Karnal on 19 July 1985 and was temporarily located in the campus of the National Dairy Research Institute at Karnal. The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources and the National Institute of Animal Genetics were merged in 1995 to work as a single unit in the form of the bureau. Its new office cum laboratory building was inaugurated on 28 November 1998. The bureau's mandate is the identification, evaluation, characterization and conservation of livestock and poultry genetic resources along with their sustainable use, together with coordination and capacity building in the management of animal genetic resources and in policy issues. The bureau gives its address at the Makrampur Campus in Karnal, Haryana.
Headquarters:Makrampur Campus, Karnal, HaryanaSet up on:21 September 1984, at BangaloreShifted to Karnal:19 July 1985Merged with:National Institute of Animal Genetics, in 1995
Why it matters for exams: The 1926 Royal Commission on Agriculture link, the move from Bangalore to Karnal, the 1995 merger with the National Institute of Animal Genetics and the bureau's breed registration role are all durable facts.
The Coir Board owes its existence to the Coir Industry Act, 1953, under which the Government of India created it to take the coir industry of the country towards sustainable development overall. Under that Act the Board's functions cover research of a scientific, technological and economic kind, along with modernisation, quality improvement, human resource development, market promotion, and the welfare of everyone engaged in the industry. The Board's headquarters is at Coir House in Kochi, Kerala. A release of the Press Information Bureau records that the Board runs 48 establishments across the country, including 29 marketing outlets. The same release shows the Board working in association with the Ministry of MSME. It says the coir industry was concentrated in the State of Kerala and has since spread to other parts of the country through the efforts taken by the Board. The functions mandated under the Act are carried out through schemes and programmes, among them the Coir Vikas Yojana and the Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme. The release groups the Board's work under research and development, training, financial support for setting up coir units, domestic and export market development, and welfare measures for workers.
Governing Act:Coir Industry Act, 1953Headquarters:Coir House, Kochi, KeralaEstablishments:48, including 29 marketing outletsMinistry:Ministry of MSME
Why it matters for exams: The Act of 1953 behind the Coir Board, its headquarters at Coir House in Kochi, the ministry it works with and the Coir Vikas Yojana are standard commodity board facts.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority is a statutory body set up by the Government of India under an Act that Parliament passed in December 1985. The authority's own page records that the Act, numbered 2 of 1986, came into effect from 13 February 1986 through a notification issued in the Gazette of India. The authority replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council. It works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The functions assigned to it include registering persons as exporters of the scheduled products on payment of a prescribed fee, fixing standards and specifications for those products for export, inspecting meat and meat products, to ensure their quality, wherever they are kept or handled, which covers slaughter houses, processing plants, storage premises and conveyances, and training in the industries connected with the scheduled products. The page records that Basmati Rice has been included in the Second Schedule of the Act. Besides the scheduled products, the authority has also been entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the import of sugar. It functions as the secretariat for the implementation of the National Programme for Organic Production.
Act number:2 of 1986Came into effect:13 February 1986Body replaced:Processed Food Export Promotion CouncilMinistry:Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Why it matters for exams: The council APEDA replaced, the Act number, the Second Schedule entry for Basmati Rice, the sugar import monitoring role and the organic production secretariat are the facts asked about this authority.
APEDAAgricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority — The export development authority for agricultural and processed food products listed in its Act.
scheduled products — The products listed in the schedule to the Act, over which the authority has its powers.