Total Fertility Rate (TFR): The average number of children born per woman over her lifetime.

Ayushman Bharat–PMJAY

• Launch Date: September 23, 2018
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)
• Implementation Body: National Health Authority (NHA)
• Funding Pattern: 60:40 (Centre:States), 90:10 for North Eastern & Himalayan States, and 100% centrally funded for UTs without a legislature.
• Insurance Cover: ₹5 Lakh per family per annum

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• Comprise 17 global goals adopted by the UN in 2015 to be achieved by 2030
• Goal 1-5: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health, Quality Education, Gender Equality
• Goal 6-10: Clean Water, Clean Energy, Economic Growth, Industry/Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 11-15: Sustainable Cities, Responsible Consumption, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land
• Goal 16-17: Peace/Justice/Institutions, Partnerships for the Goals

Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

Launched: 2018 (by the Ministry of Education, formerly MHRD).

Nature of Scheme: Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)—meaning funding is shared between the Centre and States.

Subsumed Schemes: It integrates three erstwhile independent schemes:

1. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) (Elementary education)
2. Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) (Secondary education)
3. Teacher Education (TE) (Institutional training setup)

Serves as the primary vehicle to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and is fully aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Education lies in the Concurrent List (List III) of the 7th Schedule

PM-POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman)

• Comprehensive Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Ministry of Education that guarantees one hot cooked meal per school day to eligible children
• The Origin: The scheme replaced the historic National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools (Mid-Day Meal Scheme), which originally launched nationally on August 15, 1995
• It serves as a vital right-based delivery mechanism under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
• Covers students from Balvatika (pre-primary) up to Class VIII in government and government-aided

ULLAS (Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society)

• A centrally sponsored scheme by the Ministry of Education aimed at empowering adults (aged 15+) who missed formal schooling.
• Implementation Period: 5 Years (Financial Years 2022-23 to 2026-27).
• Motto: "Jan-Jan Sakshar" (Literacy for every person).
• First State (Fully Literate): Mizoram was declared the first state fully literate under ULLAS.

PM-SHRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India)

• Launched: 2022
• Nodal Ministry: Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
• Target Scope: Existing schools managed by the Central Government (Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas), State/UT Governments, and Local Bodies (Panchayats/Municipalities).

Goa's journey to statehood: Historical Timeline

• Portuguese Rule (1510–1961): Goa was colonized by the Portuguese for over 450 years after Alfonso de Albuquerque defeated the local rulers.
• Operation Vijay (1961): On December 19, 1961, the Indian Armed Forces successfully liberated Goa from foreign rule. This milestone is celebrated separately as Goa Liberation Day.
• Union Territory Status: Following its liberation, Goa, along with the nearby coastal enclaves of Daman and Diu, was administered collectively as a Union Territory.
• The 1967 Opinion Poll: A historic referendum was held where Goans voted decisively against merging with neighboring Maharashtra, choosing instead to retain their unique identity.
• Official Language Recognition (1987): The recognition of Konkani as the official regional language paved the final path for state autonomy.
• Full Statehood (May 30, 1987): Under the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act, Goa achieved full statehood, making Panaji its capital, while Daman and Diu remained a separate Union Territory.

Goa

• Chief Minister: Pramod Sawant
• Governor: Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju
• Location: Situated on the western coast in the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats.
• India's smallest state by area and fourth-smallest by population.
• River: Mandovi (Dudhsagar Falls is located on the Mandovi river) and Zuari

Major protected areas:

• Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park
• Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary (located on Chorão Island along the Mandovi River)
• Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary

• Establishment: On April 1, 1935, under the provisions of the 'Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934'.
• Recommendation: Based on the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission (1926).
• Headquarters: Initially, its Central Office was located in Kolkata, which was permanently shifted to Mumbai in 1937.
• Nationalization: After initially being privately owned, it was fully nationalized on January 1, 1949.
• Governor: Currently, Sanjay Malhotra serves as the 26th Governor.
• First Indian Governor: C.D. Deshmukh (1943–1949). He was appointed in August 1943 and continued to serve as Governor at the time of independence (1947).
• First Female Deputy Governor: K.J. Udeshi (2003). She was the first woman in the history of the RBI to reach this position.
• First Indian Prime Minister to Serve as Governor: Dr. Manmohan Singh. He was the 15th Governor of the RBI (1982–1985).
• First Headquarters: Kolkata (1935). It was permanently shifted to Mumbai in 1937. Longest tenure: Sir Benegal Rama Rau (over 7 years).
• Shortest tenure: Amitav Ghosh (just 20 days).

Strategic Goals & Funding Structure

• Market Scale: Target a US$ 120–150 billion domestic semiconductor ecosystem by 2035.
• Investment Needed: Requires an estimated US$ 135–180 billion over the next decade to scale manufacturing, packaging, and design infrastructure.
• Anchor Capital: Proposes a government commitment of US$ 45–60 billion (at least one-third of the total required investment) to act as anchor capital, de-risk long-cycle projects, and boost private investor confidence.

Technology Focus Areas

Instead of merely chasing traditional legacy manufacturing, the NITI Aayog Frontier Tech Hub roadmap outlines distinct segments for global leadership:

• Advanced Packaging & Testing: Moving aggressively into advanced technology nodes and assembly.
• Compound Semiconductors & Wide-Bandgap Materials: Seizing opportunities in electric mobility, power electronics, and industrial tech.
• AI-Native Chip Design: Strongly supporting homegrown design companies to build sovereign Intellectual Property (IP).

Semiconductors

• What are Semiconductors? Materials with electrical conductivity between conductors (like copper) and insulators (like glass).
• Primary Materials: Element-based semiconductors include Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge).
• Doping: The process of adding impurities to intrinsic semiconductors to modify their electrical properties (creating P-type and N-type semiconductors).
• Next-Gen Compound Semiconductors: Material mixtures like Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC). These are critical for high-voltage, high-temperature operations such as electric vehicles (EVs), defense, and aerospace applications.
• The Manufacturing Chain:

• • Fab (Fabrication): The highly capital-intensive "front-end" process where circuits are chemically etched onto raw silicon wafers.
  • ATMP / OSAT: Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging. This is the "back-end" process that cuts wafers into individual dies and seals them into protective casings before retail integration.

Policies and Schemes

• India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): Launched under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in 2021 to establish a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem.
• ISM 1.0 vs. ISM 2.0:

• • ISM 1.0 (2021): Backed by a ₹76,000 crore outlay. It offers up to 50% fiscal support on a pari-passu basis for setting up Silicon Fabs, Display Fabs, and ATMP units.
  • ISM 2.0 (Union Budget 2026–27): Shifts focus from initial setups to advanced manufacturing consolidation. It prioritizes localized raw materials (chemicals, gases, equipment), full-stack indigenous Intellectual Property (IP) development, and advanced R&D.

• Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme: Provides financial infrastructure and design support (up to ₹15 crore per application) to domestic startups and MSMEs to design chips locally.
• Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme: A targeted academic initiative aimed at training a structural pipeline of over 85,000 specialized VLSI and chip-design engineers

Other Facts

• Tata Electronics Fab (Dholera) — India's first commercial chip fab.
• Karnataka is Known as the Chip Design Capital of India, it hosts over 85% of India's R&D in chip design and major global electronic design automation (EDA) firms
• India's older, strategic fabrication facilities include SITAR (Bengaluru, under DRDO) and the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh.

• Definition: Simulation of human intelligence by machines, especially computer systems, enabling them to learn, reason, and self-correct.
• Father of AI: John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956 at the Dartmouth Conference.
• Core Technologies: Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (neural networks), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Computer Vision, and Robotics.
• Turing Test: Proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 to evaluate a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour indistinguishable from a human.
• Generative AI: AI models (like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) that create new content (text, images, code) using training data, driven by Transformer Architecture.
• Deepfakes: Synthetic media generated using Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), where two neural networks contest with each other.
• AI Supercomputers: India’s AIRAWAT supercomputer has featured globally in the Top 100 fastest supercomputers list.

Government Initiatives in India

• National Strategy for AI: Launched by NITI Aayog with the theme #AIforAll, focusing on health, agriculture, education, smart cities, and smart mobility.
• AIRAWAT (AI Research, Analytics and Knowledge Dissemination Platform): India’s cloud computing platform for AI, established under NITI Aayog's guidance.
• IndiaAI Mission: A comprehensive government initiative with a budget allocation exceeding ₹10,000 crore to build compute infrastructure, support startups, and establish AI Centers of Excellence.
• GPAI (Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence): India is a founding member of this international initiative to support the responsible and human-centric development of AI.