• SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas) scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
• It aims to provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.
• The scheme is for surveying the land parcels in rural inhabited area using Drone technology.
• The survey shall be done across the country in a phase wise manner over the period of four years (2020 -2024).
• The scheme is proposed as a Central Sector scheme with a projected outlay of Rs 79.65 crores for the pilot phase (FY 2020 -21).

• The Ministry of Jal Shakti has recently launched a new version of the India Water Resources Information System (India-WRIS) with new functionalities and features.

Water Resources Information System (WRIS)

• The generation of a database and the implementation of a web enabled Water Resources Information System popularly known as India-WRIS was initiated through a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2008 between the Central Water Commission (CWC), Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (now Ministry of Jal Shakti) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Department of Space.
• This project was funded by the Central Water Commission.
• Under the National Hydrology Project, a central sector scheme approved by the Cabinet in 2016 with the objective to improve the state of information on water resources, India WRIS has been fundamentally revised and improved, new modules and functionalities have been added and technologies have been updated.
• India-WRIS provides a single window solution for all water resources data and information in a standardized national GIS framework.
• It allows users to Search, Access, Visualize, Understand and Analyse comprehensive and contextual water data for the assessment, monitoring, planning and development of water resources in the context of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
• India WRIS is managed by the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC), a unit of the Ministry of Jal Shakti which has been created upon Cabinet approval by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (now Jal Shakti) in 2018.

• Rockefeller Foundation has recently selected Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad-based non-profit, as one of the ‘Top 10 Visionaries’ in the world for the Food Vision 2050 Prize.
• The recognition fetches Naandi a prize money of $200,000.
• Naandi’s vision titled Arakunomics, a new integrated economic model that ensures profits for farmers and quality for consumers through regenerative agriculture, was based on work with tribal farmers in Araku for nearly 20 years.

Food Vision 2050 Prize

• The Food System Vision Prize is an invitation for organizations across the globe to develop a Vision of the regenerative and nourishing food system that they aspire to create by the year 2050.
• It is an initiative of Rockefeller Foundation, a New York based organization in partnership with SecondMuse and OpenIDEO.

• TRIFED has recently celebrated its 33rd Foundation Day on August 6, 2020. 

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) 

• Registered under the then Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act 1984, TRIFED came into existence in 1987 as the national nodal agency under the aegis of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, working towards the socio-economic development of the tribal people from all states.
• TRIFED started its operations in 1988 with its head office in New Delhi.
• In its mission to empower these downtrodden tribal people, by promoting the economic welfare of their communities across India (through development of marketing and the sustained upgradation of their skills), TRIFED started the procurement and marketing of tribal art and craft items through its first retail outlet called TRIBES INDIA in New Delhi in 1999.

• Business Confidence Index (BCI), an indicator of the business sentiment across the Indian industry, compiled by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) stood at 46.4 in the first quarter of 2020-21, a drop of 40.1 per cent from its level of 77.4 in the previous quarter.
• It fell 62 per cent in the June 2020 quarter on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis.
• This is the lowest that the BCI has ever fallen in the history of 113 Rounds of the NCAER Business Expectations Survey (BES).

Business Confidence Index (BCI)

• It tracks the business sentiments of around 600 Indian companies to compute the composite index.
• The NCAER survey elicits responses from firms across six cities to assess business sentiments in the four regions of India: Delhi-NCR represents the north; Mumbai and Pune, the west; Kolkata, the east; and Bengaluru and Chennai represent the south.
• The Business Expectations Survey (BES) has been carried out on a quarterly basis since 1991 by NCAER.

• Recently, the RBI has tweaked Priority Sector Lending (PSL) norms.
• It has now brought startups under the purview of priority sector lending.
• Priority Sector refers to those sectors of the economy which may not get timely and adequate credit.
• PSL is an important role given by RBI to the banks for providing a specified portion of the bank lending to few specific sectors.
• The PSL norms mandate foreign banks to eventually lend 40% of their total loan book to the priority sector.
• Certain loans to individuals for educational purposes including vocational courses are eligible for classification under PSL. 

• The Pokkali Rice seedlings travel from Kerala to the Sunderbans.
• Saltwater resistant variety may help farmers tide over saltwater incursion caused by cyclone Amphan.
• It is known for its saltwater resistance and flourishes in the rice paddies of coastal Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.
• The uniqueness of the rice has brought it the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and is the subject of continuing research.

• Recently, Manoj Sinha took oath as the new Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
• A Lieutenant Governor also has the same powers as like the Governor.
• The powers a Lieutenant Governor has in the state they administer is equivalent to that of the President.
• Under President’s Rule, the Lieutenant Governor becomes full-fledged executive head of the government.
• The  Lieutenant Governor can promulgate ordinance if the Assembly is not in session.   

• Recently, RBI has formed a five member committee under the chairmanship of KV Kamath.
• It is to make recommendations on the financial parameters to be considered in the restructuring of loans impacted by the Covid 19.

• Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the conservation of Dhole in India, according to a new study.
• It is present in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and also in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha.
•  Dholes as endangered in IUCN red list.