LOKPAL

• The ‘Lokpal’ is the central governing body that has jurisdiction over all members of parliament and central government employees in case of corruption
• The main function is to address complaints of corruption, to make inquiries, investigations, and to conduct trials for the case of central government employees with having responsibility to help in curbing the corruption in the central government.

The selection of Chairperson and Members of Lokpal shall be through a Selection Committee consisting of –

a) Prime Minister;

b) Speaker of Lok Sabha;

c) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha;

d) Chief Justice of India or a sitting Supreme Court Judge nominated by CJI;

e) An eminent jurist to be nominated by the President of India.

UDAN

• UDAN is an innovative scheme to develop the regional aviation market.
• UDAN or Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik is Civil Aviation Ministry’s regional connectivity scheme for a period of 10 years, meant for the common man who dreams of flying at an affordable price.
• It envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports
• For the successful completion of such projects, the government is using Viability Gap Funding to support projects that are economically justified but not financially viable.
• Since the routes are in such areas where passenger traffic is low, the scheme requires small seater plains to economically conduct services.

Election commission

• The Election Commission independent body established by the Constitution of India directly to ensure free and fair elections in the country
• The EC currently consists of Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners and decisions are taken by consensus or majority vote.
• The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only on the same grounds and in the same manner as a judge of the Supreme Court.
• But for the other Election Commissioners this safeguard is not given. And is alleged that it is affecting the independence of these election commissioners and thus putting the institution under governments influence.

Tuberculosis

• Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB).
• The disease is spread from person to person through the air. It commonly affects the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body.
• TB kills an estimated 480,000 Indians every year and more than 1,400 every day
• The government has committed to achieve a ‘90-90-90 target’ by 2035 (90% reductions in incidence, mortality and catastrophic health expenditures due to TB.

Kote Mara Jatra

• It is one of the historic and famous fairs (Jatra meaning ‘fair’) of Karnataka.
• It has socio–religious importance and is attended by a large number of devotees from all regions of Karnataka
• The festival id dedicated to Kote Sri Marikamba, a form of Durga or Parvati.
• On this occasion, a 16 feet (4.9 m) high chariot, colorfully decorated and carrying the image of the idol, is taken out on a procession.

International Solar Alliance

• The ISA was launched at the 2015 Paris Climate Change Summit by India and France to empower solar-rich countries located between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn to make collaborative efforts to harness solar energy to generate the electricity.
• Under this alliance, 121 countries that fall within the tropics have been invited, most of them from Asia, Africa and South America