• National Roadmap: Connecting students with the developmental roadmap of India to make it a developed nation by its 100th year of independence.
• Direct Dialogue: Empowering youth through interactive sessions and dialogues with policymakers, public representatives, and youth icons.

Programme Activities

• Youth Parliament: Platforms like the Viksit Bharat Youth Parliament allow students to deliberate on key national issues and foster leadership.
• Experiential Learning: Providing hands-on opportunities through MY Bharat to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application.
• Civic Engagement: Activities include Viksit Bharat pledges, tree plantation drives, and community service.

• Establishment & Mandate: Created in March 1986, the NCB is the nodal agency for enforcing the NDPS Act, 1985, and for national and international coordination on drug-related issues.
• Parent Ministry: Operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
• As of September 2024, the Director General is Anurag Garg.

The Budget Session, usually held from February to May, is the most crucial parliamentary session for passing the Union Budget (Annual Financial Statement under Article 112).

• imeline & Structure: Often split into two parts with a recess for Standing Committee scrutiny.
• Constitutional Provisions:
  • Article 112: Annual Financial Statement (Budget).
  • Article 110: Defines Money Bills (Budget is a Money Bill).
  • Article 113: Estimates related to expenditure charged to the Consolidated Fund.
• The Process:

1. Presentation: Finance Minister presents the budget in Lok Sabha.
2. General Discussion: Debate on the overall Budget.
3. Scrutiny: Parliament adjourns for Standing Committees to examine Ministry Demands for Grants.
4. Voting on Demands: Only in Lok Sabha.
5. Passing of Appropriation Bill: Authorizes expenditure from the Consolidated Fund.
6. Passing of Finance Bill: Legalizes tax proposals.

• Key Terms:
  • Vote on Account: Used in election years to pass expenditures before the new government takes over.
  • Cut Motions: Used by opposition to reduce demand for grants (Policy, Economy, Token cuts).

• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
• Main language: Malayalam
• State animal: Elephant
• State bird: Great Hornbill
• Literacy rate: Nearly 94% (highest in India)
• Digital literacy: Kerala has become India's first fully digitally literate state.
• Borders: Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea to the west.
• Mountain range: The Western Ghats range in the east. Kerala's highest peak is Anamudi, which is also the highest peak in South India (2,695 meters).

• Official Name: National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi).
• Constitutional Status: Special Union Territory under Article 239AA (inserted by the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1991).
• Administration: It has a legislative assembly and a council of ministers headed by a Chief Minister. However, Public Order, Police, and Land are under the jurisdiction of the Union Government (administered through the Lieutenant Governor).
• Districts: 11 districts.
• Legislature: Unicameral (70 Assembly seats).
• Parliamentary Representation: 7 Lok Sabha seats and 3 Rajya Sabha seats.
• Seismic Zone: Falls under Seismic Zone-IV (high vulnerability to earthquakes).
• Biodiversity: The Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Aravalli hills.
• Ancient: Legend holds it was the site of Indraprastha (Mahabharata era).
• Medieval: Ruled by Delhi Sultanate (Slave, Khilji, Tughlaq, Sayyid, Lodi dynasties) and Mughal Empire.
• Modern: Capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in 1911 by the British.
• Designers: Designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker.
• Incorporation: Became a Union Territory in 1956.

• Father of Indian Railways: Lord Dalhousie is credited for his "Railway Minutes" of 1853, which initiated the network.
• First Passenger Train: Ran on April 16, 1853, between Bori Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane (34 km).
  • Locomotives: Three steam engines named Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan.
  • Operator: Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR).
• First Industrial Train: The Red Hill Railway (1837) in Madras was used to transport granite, predating the passenger service.
• First Electric Train: Started on February 3, 1925, between Bombay VT and Kurla on DC traction.
• Nationalization: The system was nationalized in 1951.
• Budget Merger: Since 1924, the Railway Budget was separate until it was merged with the Union Budget in 2017.

Chairman & CEO (Railway Board): Satish Kumar

First Female Chairperson: Jaya Varma Sinha

• Global Rank: Fourth largest railway network in the world (after US, China, and Russia).
• Zonal Structure: Divided into 18 administrative zones (including Metro Railway, Kolkata) and 68 divisions.
• Fastest Train: Vande Bharat Express (Indigenous semi-high speed).
• Longest Route: Vivek Express (Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari), covering ~4,234 km.
• World Heritage Sites (UNESCO): Four sites are recognized:
  • Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
  • Nilgiri Mountain Railway
  • Kalka-Shimla Railway
  • Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Mumbai.
• Engineering Marvels:
  • Longest Platform: Gorakhpur (UP) at ~1,366 meters.
  • Highest Rail Bridge: Chenab Bridge (35m taller than the Eiffel Tower).

Milestones

• 1909: Introduction of toilets in trains (following a complaint letter by Okhil Chandra Sen).
• 1984: India’s first Metro started in Kolkata.
• 1986: First computerized reservation system launched in New Delhi.
• Mascot: Bholu, the Guard Elephant (introduced for the 150th anniversary in 2002).

• Location: A landlocked country in Southeastern Africa, part of the Great Rift Valley system.
• Borders: Bordered by Zambia (West), Tanzania (North & East), and Mozambique (East, South, & Southwest).
• Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa) is Third-largest lake in Africa and one of the world's deepest.
• Currency: Malawian Kwacha (MWK)
• Capital: Lilongwe
• President: Peter Mutharika
• India is Malawi's 4th largest trading partner. India exports pharmaceuticals, machinery, and textiles, while importing pulses and agricultural goods.

• First Three-Time Champion: India is the first nation to win three ICC Men's T20 World Cup titles (2007, 2024, 2026).
• Successful Title Defence: India became the first team in the tournament's history to successfully defend their title back-to-back.
• Home Soil Triumph: This marks the first time a host nation has won the T20 World Cup at home.
• Captaining Success: Suryakumar Yadav became the third Indian captain to lead the team to a T20 World Cup title, joining MS Dhoni (2007) and Rohit Sharma (2024).
• Coach's Rare Double: Gautam Gambhir became the first person to win the T20 World Cup both as a player (2007) and as a head coach (2026).
• Highest Final Total: India posted 255/5, the highest-ever score in a T20 World Cup final.
• Key Performers:
  • Sanju Samson: Scored 89 runs off 46 balls (highest score in a final) and was named Player of the Tournament.
  • Abhishek Sharma: Smashed the fastest half-century in a T20 World Cup knockout (18 balls).
  • Jasprit Bumrah: Took 4/15 and was awarded Player of the Match.

The ASMITA project is a significant educational initiative launched in July 2024 to promote Indian languages in higher education, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

• Full Form: Augmenting Study Materials in Indian languages through Translation and Academic writing.
• Nodal Agencies: A collaborative effort by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti (a high-powered committee under the Ministry of Education).
• Primary Goal: To develop 22,000 books in Indian languages over the next five years (1,000 books in each of the 22 scheduled languages).
• Immediate Target: Production of 1,800 textbooks covering Arts, Science, and Commerce streams by June 2025.