Background
The Rose Garden on Jan Marg in Sector 16, Chandigarh, was set up in 1967.
It is named after India's former President, Zakir Hussain.
Chandigarh Tourism says it is home to 1600 varieties of flowers; Incredible India describes it as Asia's largest rose garden, with 50,000 rose bushes.
Besides roses, it has trees of medicinal value such as bel, bahera, harar and camphor.
A new section with a bonsai garden was added in 2003.
The garden is the venue of the annual Festival of Gardens, a major cultural event held in February or March.
Set up:
1967
Named after:
Zakir Hussain, former President
Location:
Jan Marg, Sector 16
Rose bushes (Incredible India):
50,000
Why it matters for exams: Named gardens and the persons they honour are a common general-knowledge question, and this one ties Chandigarh to a former President.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Zakir Hussain Dr. Zakir Hussain — Former President of India after whom the Chandigarh rose garden is named.
Bonsai Bonsai — The art of growing miniature trees in containers.
Background
The Rock Garden of Chandigarh was created by Nek Chand, a former road inspector, who began it in 1957.
He gathered discarded material from the city's streets and worked on a barren forest area near Sukhna Lake, building interlinked courtyards over 12 acres.
The work stayed secret for 18 years, until the authorities learnt of it in 1975; public support saved it from demolition.
Nek Chand was then given a team of 50 artisans, and the garden opened to the public in 1976.
It spreads over 40 acres in three phases, with over 5,000 statues made from terracotta pots, tiles, mirrors, broken bangles and even broken toilet pots.
Nek Chand was born on December 15, 1924, and died on June 12, 2015.
Begun:
1957
Opened to the public:
1976
Area:
40 acres
Statues:
over 5,000
Why it matters for exams: The Rock Garden and its creator are a staple of art-and-culture and 'best out of waste' questions on Chandigarh.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Nek Chand Nek Chand (1924-2015) — Road inspector turned self-taught artist who built the Rock Garden from urban waste.
Sukhna Lake Sukhna Lake — The lake in Chandigarh beside which the Rock Garden was built.
Background
The Land of Frankincense was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000 under criteria (iii) and (iv). The serial property brings together the frankincense trees of Wadi Dawkah, the caravan oasis of Shisr or Wubar, and the ports of Khor Rori and Al-Baleed. Frankincense is the resin of the Boswellia sacra tree, and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre calls it one of the most important luxury goods of the ancient world. Khor Rori is a fortified port about 40 km east of Salalah that was in use from the 4th century BC to the 5th century AD. Al-Baleed is a coastal port on the Indian Ocean that was in use from the 8th to the 16th century AD. Caravans carried the resin from the wadis through oases such as Shisr to these ports, from where it was shipped to Mesopotamia, India and China.
Inscribed:
2000, criteria (iii) and (iv)
Tree:
Boswellia sacra
Ports in the property:
Khor Rori and Al-Baleed
Why it matters for exams: The frankincense trade links Oman to the Indian Ocean trade routes that general studies papers cover.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Frankincense Frankincense — An aromatic resin tapped from Boswellia trees and burned as incense.
Background
The Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006 under criterion (v). The property has five components: Falaj Al Jeela, Falaj Muyasser, Falaj Daris, Falaj Malki and Falaj Khatmein. They represent more than 3,000 aflaj still in use in Oman, and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre says the aflaj still provide 30 to 50 per cent of the country's water use. Water is drawn from groundwater, springs or surface sources and moved by gravity alone through underground and surface channels, with aqueducts and siphons to cross wadi beds. The systems are classified by water source into the Daoudi, Ghaili and Aini types. Shares of water are allotted on a time basis and measured by a sundial, and the flow is directed through sluices.
Inscribed:
2006, criterion (v)
Components:
5 aflaj
Aflaj still in use:
more than 3,000
Share of water use:
30-50%
Why it matters for exams: Traditional water-harvesting systems and their UNESCO recognition are a recurring environment and culture question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Falaj Falaj (plural aflaj) — An Omani gravity-fed channel that carries water from a source to fields and houses.
Wadi Wadi — A valley or stream bed that carries water only after rain.
Background
This background is anchored to the listing of Chandigarh's Sukhna wetland as a Ramsar site.
The Ramsar Convention is an environmental treaty on wetlands, adopted in the town of Ramsar in Iran.
It was established in 1971, and sites listed under it are called wetlands of international importance.
Designating a site commits the country to establishing and overseeing a management framework to conserve it.
The Ramsar Secretariat gives each listed wetland its own site number, and Sukhna in Chandigarh is Site No. 2602.
A listing also recognises the wetland's value as habitat for resident and migratory birds, reptiles and other wildlife.
In the Indian subcontinent many such wetlands serve birds that travel along the Central Asian Flyway.
Town the Convention is named after:
Ramsar, Iran
Sukhna's site number:
2602
Listed wetlands are called:
Wetlands of international importance
Why it matters for exams: Examiners ask where the Ramsar Convention was adopted and what obligation a designation creates, independent of which site was listed last.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Ramsar Convention Convention on Wetlands — The environmental treaty under which countries list and undertake to conserve important wetlands.
Central Asian Flyway Migratory bird route — The route along which birds move between northern Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
16 October 2026
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav announced two new Ramsar sites, the Sukhna wetland in Chandigarh and Sauj Jheel in Uttar Pradesh.
The additions take India's count of Ramsar sites to 103.
Sukhna is Chandigarh's first wetland on the international list, and the Ramsar Secretariat lists it as Site No. 2602.
The designation recognises the wetland as habitat for resident and migratory birds, reptiles and other wildlife, and it supports birds using the Central Asian Flyway.
Species named include the vulnerable common pochard, the endangered Pallas's fish eagle and the endangered black pond turtle.
The Minister made the announcement in a post on X, citing the Ramsar Secretariat's announcement of 15 October.
A designation commits the country to a management framework for conserving the site.
India's Ramsar sites:
103
Ramsar site number:
2602
The other new site:
Sauj Jheel, Uttar Pradesh
Minister:
Bhupender Yadav
Why it matters for exams: The running count of India's Ramsar sites and the first such site of a State or Union Territory are among the most asked environment facts.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Ramsar site Wetland of international importance — A wetland listed under the Ramsar Convention, which a country then undertakes to conserve.
Central Asian Flyway Migratory bird route — The route along which birds move between northern Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
16 October 2026
The United Kingdom launched an update to its Arctic Policy Framework at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London on 15 October 2026, with Uma Kumaran, Minister for the Polar Regions, speaking at the launch. The update follows the earlier policy paper Looking North and is built on five priorities: understanding and responding to a changing Arctic, enhancing security and stability, supporting effective governance, building responsible economic partnerships and strengthening resilience. A Written Ministerial Statement on the framework was laid before Parliament. The Natural Environment Research Council has invested more than 145 million pounds in Arctic science since 2014, an initial 13 million pounds goes to Arctic Ocean research alongside the Research Council of Norway, and more than 4 million pounds over three years supports research partnerships, including with the Arctic Council and early-career Arctic researchers. The speech noted that Arctic winter sea ice in March 2025 reached the lowest annual maximum in the 47-year record.
Number of priorities:
five
Arctic science investment since 2014:
more than £145 million
Initial funding for Arctic Ocean research:
£13 million
Why it matters for exams: Polar policy items test which body governs the Arctic and what a non-Arctic state's role in it is.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Arctic Council Arctic Council — The intergovernmental forum of Arctic states that also admits observers.
NERC Natural Environment Research Council — The United Kingdom's public funder of environmental science.
16 October 2026
A paper published in Nature on 14 October 2026 reports that the surface of a microplastic particle in water is chemically active. Polystyrene microplastics degraded about 90 per cent of the dye methyl orange over ten days in water but not in other solvents, and electron spin resonance spectroscopy confirmed hydroxyl radical production at the particle-water interface. Six commodity plastics, namely polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate and polymethyl methacrylate, all generated radicals, with more hydrophobic surfaces more active. Adding the surfactant Triton X-100 reduced radical generation, surface charge and the accumulation of a hydrophobic dye on the particle surface. Charged biomolecules such as proteins and DNA accumulated on the particle surfaces, the radicals promoted protein aggregation, and the particles damaged mouse red blood cells. The authors conclude that plastics in microplastic form are not chemically inert and that this reactivity may contribute to health and environmental harm.
Dye degraded by polystyrene in water over ten days:
about 90%
Plastics tested:
six commodity plastics
Radical identified at the interface:
hydroxyl radical
Why it matters for exams: The finding changes the standard claim that plastics are inert, which environment and health questions repeat.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Hydroxyl radical Hydroxyl radical — A highly reactive oxygen species that can break down dyes and damage biomolecules.
Surfactant Surface active agent — A substance that lowers surface tension and coats interfaces, as detergents do.
16 October 2026
A study published in Nature on 15 October 2026 reassessed the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List status of 892 reef-building coral species that were first assessed in 2008. Of these, 774 species had enough data to be assessed, and 340 of them, or 44 per cent, were classified as threatened. The breakdown is 33 Critically Endangered, 251 Endangered and 56 Vulnerable. Most listings follow from projected thermal stress: because species-level population trends are rarely available, the authors inferred population reductions from global coral cover trends and projected annual severe bleaching under the SSP2-4.5 scenario over three decades, then adjusted the estimates with trait-based vulnerability scores. The authors note that the assessment predates the fourth global coral bleaching event of 2023 to 2025 and the first annual mean exceedance of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. The paper cautions that the Red List measures relative extinction risk and does not predict whether or when a species may go extinct.
Species assessed:
774 of 892
Threatened species:
340 (44%)
Critically Endangered:
33
Climate scenario used:
SSP2-4.5
Why it matters for exams: The figures give a dated, citable measure of coral extinction risk and tie the Red List categories to a climate scenario.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
IUCN Red List International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species — The global inventory that grades species by relative risk of extinction.
Coral bleaching Coral bleaching — Corals expel their symbiotic algae under heat stress and turn white.
16 October 2026
The India Meteorological Department announced the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and the onset of the northeast monsoon.
Northeast monsoon activity already prevailed over Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal, coastal Andhra Pradesh, south interior Karnataka and Rayalaseema.
An orange alert, meaning very heavy rain of 12 to 20 cm in 24 hours, was issued for Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta.
A yellow alert, meaning 7 to 11 cm in 24 hours, covered the remaining ten districts.
Kerala was told to expect heavy to very heavy rain until 21 October.
Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds of 40 to 50 kmph were forecast at isolated places in Kerala and Lakshadweep.
Orange alert districts:
Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta
Orange alert rainfall:
12-20 cm in 24 hours
Yellow alert rainfall:
7-11 cm in 24 hours
Heavy rain forecast until:
21 October
Why it matters for exams: The onset of the northeast monsoon and the colour codes of rain alerts are standard questions in geography and current affairs papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Northeast monsoon Retreating monsoon — The winds that bring Kerala and Tamil Nadu rain between October and December as the monsoon retreats.
Orange alert Very heavy rain warning — The India Meteorological Department uses it for rainfall of 12 to 20 cm in 24 hours.
Background
Oman is situated in the south-eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
It is surrounded by the sea on two sides: the Sea of Oman to the north-east, and the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to the south-east.
From Musandam it overlooks the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Gulf.
It has land borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west, the Republic of Yemen to the south and the United Arab Emirates to the north.
The Foreign Ministry describes Oman as the third largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, with a total area of 309,500 square kilometres, much of its interior lying in the desert wilderness known as the Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter.
In the Hajar Mountains, Jabal Shams, at around 3,000 metres, is the highest peak in the Arabian Peninsula, and Jabal Akhdar is the Green Mountain.
The Governorate of Musandam, separated from the rest of the Sultanate by a strip of United Arab Emirates land, covers about 1,800 square kilometres with a population of 56,279 and has Khasab as its main town; its fjords have earned it the name 'Norway of Arabia'.
Oman encompasses 11 Governorates, each divided into provinces called Wilayats, and the southern Governorate of Dhofar is made green by seasonal monsoon winds around the port city of Salalah.
Land neighbours:
Saudi Arabia (west), Yemen (south), United Arab Emirates (north)
Seas:
Sea of Oman; Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean
Strait overlooked:
Strait of Hormuz, from Musandam
Highest peak:
Jabal Shams, around 3,000 m
Governorates:
11
Why it matters for exams: Oman's three neighbours and its command of the Strait of Hormuz are asked whenever Gulf shipping is in the news.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Musandam — Oman's northern governorate, cut off from the rest of the country by UAE territory.
Rub' al Khali The Empty Quarter — The great sand desert of the Arabian Peninsula.
Wilayat — A province within an Omani governorate.
Background
The Ozone Secretariat of the UN Environment Programme describes the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer as a global agreement to protect the Earth's ozone layer by phasing out the chemicals that deplete it.
The phase-out plan covers both the production and the consumption of ozone-depleting substances.
The agreement was signed in 1987 and entered into force in 1989.
The parties to the Protocol meet once a year to take decisions on its implementation, and the Protocol has been adjusted or amended six times since its creation.
The most recent amendment, the Kigali Amendment, called for the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs.
HFCs were used as replacements for ozone-depleting substances that the original Protocol eliminated; they do not deplete the ozone layer but are powerful greenhouse gases and so contribute to climate change.
The Ozone Secretariat records that the Protocol has met its objectives so far and that the ozone layer is well on its way to recovery.
Signed:
1987
Entered into force:
1989
Times amended or adjusted:
six
Kigali Amendment covers:
phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
Why it matters for exams: Examiners regularly pair the Montreal Protocol with the Kigali Amendment and ask what each one covers.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
HFCs Hydrofluorocarbons — Refrigerant gases that spare the ozone layer but warm the planet strongly.
Phase-down — A planned reduction in use, as against a phase-out, which ends use altogether.
Background
Disputes over offshore oil projects and seabed mining are argued today under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the globally recognised regime for all matters relating to the law of the sea.
The Convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 at Montego Bay, Jamaica, after more than 14 years of work involving more than 150 countries.
It entered into force on 16 November 1994, twelve months after the sixtieth instrument of ratification or accession was deposited.
Coastal States exercise sovereignty over a territorial sea whose breadth may not exceed 12 nautical miles, and foreign vessels enjoy innocent passage through those waters.
Ships and aircraft of all countries are allowed transit passage through straits used for international navigation.
Coastal States have sovereign rights in a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone over natural resources, while all other States keep freedom of navigation and overflight and the freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines there.
The continental shelf may extend at least 200 nautical miles, and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf recommends outer boundaries beyond that.
Disputes may be taken to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, to the International Court of Justice or to arbitration, and the Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction over deep seabed mining disputes.
Territorial sea:
up to 12 nautical miles
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nautical miles
Opened for signature:
10 December 1982, Montego Bay
Entered into force:
16 November 1994
Why it matters for exams: The twelve-nautical-mile and two-hundred-nautical-mile limits and the Tribunal's role are standard questions whenever a maritime dispute is in the news.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone — The 200-nautical-mile belt in which a coastal State has sovereign rights over natural resources.
Innocent passage — The right of a foreign ship to pass through another State's territorial sea without threatening it.
ITLOS International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea — The court created by the Convention, seated at Hamburg, for law of the sea disputes.
Background
Work on the Kalladi-Anakkampoyil tunnel road that would open this district towards Kozhikode has stayed suspended for three months after a landslide at Kalladi, so the district it serves is worth knowing.
Wayanad came into existence on 1 November 1980 as the 12th District of Kerala, made up of the Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Vythiri taluks.
It was carved out from the then Kozhikode and Kannur districts.
The name Wayanad is derived from Vayal Nadu, which means the land of paddy fields.
It is a plateau between 700 and 2100 metres above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats on the eastern portion of north Kerala, bordering Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
About 885.92 square kilometres of the district is under forest, and its culture is mainly tribal oriented.
The district administration calls it perhaps one of the biggest foreign exchange earners of the State, with its production of cash crops like pepper, cardamom, coffee, tea, spices and other condiments.
Formed:
1 November 1980, as the 12th District of Kerala
Taluks at formation:
Mananthavady, Sulthanbathery and Vythiri
Carved out from:
The then Kozhikode and Kannur districts
Elevation:
700 to 2100 metres above mean sea level
Area under forest:
About 885.92 sq km
Why it matters for exams: District formation order, parent districts and taluks are among the most reliably asked Kerala PSC facts.
Kerala PSCSSC
In plain words
Taluk Revenue subdivision of a district — The administrative unit between a district and a village in Kerala's revenue system.
Background
Kerala has redrawn its ecologically sensitive area map for the Ghats, cutting the proposed extent to 8,590.69 square kilometres and largely excluding 33 of 123 villages, so the property those hills form is worth knowing.
UNESCO inscribed the Western Ghats on the World Heritage List in 2012 as a natural property.
It is inscribed under criteria (ix) and (x), the criteria for ecological processes and for biodiversity.
It is a serial property of 39 component parts grouped into 7 sub-clusters.
UNESCO records that the Ghats traverse the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, while the 39 components of the inscribed property itself are spread across four States.
Kerala submitted its revised documents to the Centre on 24 September, following the Union Environment Ministry's seventh draft notification, and the map is on the State Environment Department's website.
Year of inscription:
2012
Criteria:
(ix)(x)
Component parts:
39, in 7 sub-clusters
States the Ghats traverse:
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat
Kerala's proposed ESA extent:
8,590.69 square kilometres
Why it matters for exams: Serial World Heritage properties, their criteria and the States they cover are a repeated UPSC environment question, and the Ghats are Kerala's own.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
ESA Ecologically Sensitive Area — An area notified for restrictions on polluting and land-altering activity.
Serial property A World Heritage site made of several separate parts — One inscription covering many physically separate component sites.
Background
Yanam is one of the regions of the Union Territory of Puducherry and lies 870 km away from it. It is situated on the East Coast of the Indian peninsula at 16 degrees 42 minutes northern latitude and 82 degrees 11 minutes eastern longitude, bounded on all sides by the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. The town of Yanam lies at the spot where the River Coringa, also called Atreya, branches off from the Gauthami into two parts. The entire region, consisting of Yanam town and six villages, is treated as a Municipality for local administration. The region covers an area of 30.0 square kilometres and had a population of 31,362 according to the 2001 Census.
Distance from Puducherry:
870 km
Area:
30.0 sq km
Population (2001 Census):
31,362
Composition:
Yanam town and six villages
Coordinates:
16 deg 42 min N, 82 deg 11 min E
Why it matters for exams: Yanam's coordinates, its enclave position inside Andhra Pradesh and its single-municipality administration are typical map and polity questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Enclave Territory surrounded by another jurisdiction — Yanam is governed from Puducherry but is physically surrounded by Andhra Pradesh.
Background
The four regions of the Union Territory of Puducherry lie scattered across South India. Puducherry town is about 135 km from Chennai Airport and is bounded on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the other three sides by Tamil Nadu. Karaikal lies about 130 km south of Puducherry on the East Coast. Mahe is on the Malabar coast on the Western Ghats, surrounded by Kerala, and is about 70 km from Calicut Airport. Yanam adjoins the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh and is about 200 km from Visakhapatnam Airport.
Puducherry from Chennai Airport:
About 135 km
Karaikal from Puducherry:
About 130 km south
Mahe from Calicut Airport:
About 70 km
Yanam from Visakhapatnam Airport:
About 200 km
Why it matters for exams: Map-based questions on which State surrounds each Puducherry region are among the commonest Kerala PSC and UPSC items on this Union Territory.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Malabar coast South-western coast of India — The Arabian Sea coastline running along Kerala and parts of Karnataka.
15 October 2026
The Kerala government told the State Legislative Assembly on Thursday, 15 October 2026, that Forest department action in Chinnakkanal, Idukki district, was restricted to dismantling unauthorised and illegal fencing. Forest Minister Shibu Baby John and Revenue Minister A.P. Anil Kumar set out the government's position. The Opposition CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front had moved an adjournment motion to discuss hardships faced by farmers and residents of localities including Chinnakkanal, Panthalikkalam and Shanthampara. The motion concerned an order issued by the Idukki District Collector on 23 September 2026 authorising the removal of fences, walls and other structures put up by them. The LDF staged a walkout after the motion was denied.
District:
Idukki
Collector's order dated:
23 September 2026
Localities named:
Chinnakkanal, Panthalikkalam, Shanthampara
Ministers who replied:
Shibu Baby John and A.P. Anil Kumar
Why it matters for exams: Forest land disputes in Idukki, the District Collector's powers and Assembly adjournment motions are all live Kerala PSC topics.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
District Collector Head of district revenue administration — The senior-most revenue officer of a district, who issues orders on land and public order matters.
15 October 2026
The World Health Organization called on 15 October 2026 for faster action to prevent lead exposure.
Lead exposure is estimated to cause more than 3.5 million deaths globally each year and affects hundreds of millions of children.
The call was made ahead of International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, which runs from 18 to 26 October.
Fewer than half of countries had confirmed legally binding controls on paint containing lead, according to the agency's latest global assessment.
Bruce Gordon, interim director of WHO's Department of Environment, Climate Change, One Health and Migration, said lead poisoning should not be stealing children's potential in 2026.
WHO will present a Global Action Plan on Lead Mitigation to the World Health Assembly next year and launch the PREVENT Technical Package in 2027.
Annual deaths from lead exposure:
More than 3.5 million
International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week:
18-26 October
Technical package:
PREVENT, to launch in 2027
Why it matters for exams: WHO disease burden figures and observance weeks are standard international health questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
WHO World Health Organization — The United Nations specialised agency for international public health, headquartered in Geneva.
15 October 2026
The Frontier Tech Hub of NITI Aayog released a Data Centre Evaluation Framework on 14 October 2026 to help states plan for sustainable growth.
The Framework is structured around five pillars: Power and Energy; Water and Cooling; Siting and Environmental Sustainability; Economic and Strategic Value; and Policy, Governance and Implementation.
NITI Aayog CEO Anurag Jain said states need to assess infrastructure availability and resource requirements before committing support to data-centre projects.
NITI Aayog Member Abhay Karandikar stressed strengthening domestic research and development and industry-academia collaboration.
Distinguished Fellow Debjani Ghosh said data centres are becoming critical strategic infrastructure as artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy.
The release notes a tax holiday until 2047 for eligible foreign cloud service providers using India-based data-centre infrastructure.
Number of pillars:
Five
NITI Aayog CEO:
Anurag Jain
Tax holiday for eligible foreign cloud providers:
Until 2047
Why it matters for exams: NITI Aayog frameworks, their pillars and the officials who head the body are commonly asked in governance papers.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Frontier Tech Hub NITI Aayog Frontier Tech Hub — A NITI Aayog unit that works on emerging technologies and their policy implications.