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Fly ash is a fine powder that is a byproduct of burning pulverized coal in electric generation power plants. It is a pollutant and a major source of Particulate matter (PM) 2.5 in the summer. It contains black carbon (BC) and other heavy and toxic metals like chromium, copper and lead. At present, around 68% of the fly ash is being utilized and target is 100% utilization of the fly ash. When mixed with lime and water, fly ash forms a compound similar to Portland cement.

The World Customs Organization (WCO), was established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC) as an independent intergovernmental body. Today, the WCO represents 183 Customs administrations across the globe that collectively process approximately 98% of world trade.
At the 2019 WCO Council Sessions, Members endorsed a new Strategic Plan for the 2019-2022 period, comprising nine priorities: Coordinated Border Management, Safety and Security, the Revised Kyoto Convention, E-Commerce, the Harmonized System, the Capacity Building Strategy, Performance Measurement, Integrity, and Digital Customs and Data Analytics.

Biosparging is an in-situ method.In situ bioremediation techniques focus on initiating or enhancing the degradation of the contaminants of concern in the subsurface. Air (or oxygen) and nutrients (if needed) are injected into the saturated zone to increase the biological activity of the indigenous microorganisms. The time a remediation project takes varies from one to several years and greatly depends on concentrations, the type of contaminants present and the extent to which the soil can be aerated.
Bioventing, bioaugmentation and biopiling are the other in-situ bioremediation methods.

The newsletter tracks the trends in the microfinance sector viz. disbursements delinquencies, state-wise distribution, top loan categories.
The Shares of SIDBI are held by the Government of India and twenty- nine other institutions / public sector banks / insurance companies owned or controlled by the Central Government.
Objective of the Congress is to analyze and bring to fore the emerging challenges in the microfinance sector and make policy advocacy recommendations to address those challenges. It was organized for the first time in 2018.
MSME Pulse, Crisidex, Udyam abhilasha are some of the other initiatives of SIDBI.

India has been a member of UNESCO, a specialized agency of the United Nations since its inception in 1946. Article VII of the constitution of UNESCO requires that each Member State shall make such arrangements as suit its particular conditions for purposes of associating its principal bodies interested in educational, scientific and cultural matters with the work of the Organization. The Minister of Human Resource Development is the President of the Commission. The membership of the commission consists of the members of five Sub-Commissions namely, Sub-Commission for (i) education; (ii) Natural Sciences; (iii) Social Sciences; (iv) Culture; and (v) Communication.

Bharatnatyam Dance is considered to be over 2000 years old. Several texts beginning with Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra (200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E.) provide information on this dance form. The Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara is one of the main sources of textual material, for the study of the technique and grammar of body movement in Bharatnatyam Dance.
As a solo dance, Bharatnatyam leans heavily on the abhinaya or mime aspect of dance – the nritya, where the dancer expresses the sahitya through movement and mime. It is performed on Carnatic music. It consists of multiple items: Nritta– pure dance movements; Abhinaya– dramatic art of storytelling and Nritya– combination of nritta & abhinaya.
The gharanas are a feature of Kathak classical dance.

The Union Cabinet national policy on software products which aims to position India as a Software Product nation and create 3.5 million jobs by 2025. It aims to promote the creation of a sustainable Indian software product industry, driven by intellectual property (IP), leading to a ten-fold increase in share of the Global Software product market by 2025.
A Programme to support Research and Innovation on Software Products in Institutes of Higher Learning and Research will be initiated with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 500 Crore with participation from Government, Academia and Industry.
A Programme to create 20 domain specific Indian software product clusters around existing industry concentrations, such as in automobile, textile, financial services, electronic manufacturing, energy etc will be initiated.

The East India Company began to adopt a dual policy in the sphere of education. It discouraged the prevalent system of oriental education and gave importance to western education and English language. The contemporary British scholars were divided into two groups on the issue of development of education in India. The Orientalists advocated the promotion of oriental subjects through Indian languages. The Anglicists argued the cause of western sciences and literature in the medium of English language. Lord Macaulay announced his famous Minute advocating the Anglicist point of view in 1835. In 1854, Sir Charles Wood sent a comprehensive dispatch as a grand plan on education.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is responsible for rehabilitation of manual scavengers and it implements the ‘Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers’ (SRMS).
The Act intends to:
. Eliminate the insanitary latrines.
. Prohibit Employment as Manual Scavengers, Hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
. Carry out survey of Manual Scavengers and their rehabilitation.
Measures for rehabilitation include one time cash assistance, scholarship for children, training in livelihood skill and provision of concessional loans.