Solution (c)

Export Preparedness Index (EPI) report 2020 

The NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) report 2020.

EPI 2020:

Aim: To identify challenges and opportunities, enhance the effectiveness of government policies and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework for export.

The index ranked states on four key pillars

• Policy
• Business Ecosystem 
• Export Ecosystem
• Export Performance

The index also took into consideration 11 sub-pillars – export promotion policy; institutional framework; business environment; infrastructure; transport connectivity; access to finance; export infrastructure; trade support; R&D infrastructure; export diversification; and growth orientation.

Features: The EPI is a data-driven effort to identify the core areas crucial for export promotion at the sub-national level (states and union territories).

The Index would be a helpful guide for the state governments to benchmark regional performance with respect to export promotion and thus deliver key policy insights on how to improve and enhance the exports.

Performance:

• Gujarat has topped the overall EPI 2020 followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
• Among the landlocked states, Rajasthan has topped the index, followed by Telangana and Haryana.
• Among the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand topped the index, followed by Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
• Across Union Territories, Delhi has performed the best.

Solution (b)

The Edakkal Caves are located on the Ambukuthi Hills (a part of the Western Ghats) on the Mysore Plateau, in Wayanad district of Kerala. It is located 1,200m above the sea level. It has engravings from the late Neolithic period. It is the only evidence for the existence of true Neolithic Culture in Kerala.

Solution (a)

Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model (DSGE) Model:

DSGE modelling is a method in macroeconomics that attempts to explain economic phenomena, such as economic growth and business cycles, and the effects of economic policy, through econometric models based on applied general equilibrium theory and economic principles.

• Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships.
• General Equilibrium Theory is a macroeconomic theory that explains how supply and demand in an economy with many markets interact dynamically and eventually culminate in equilibrium of prices.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is using Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to provide a tentative and proximate assessment of the likely impact of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown on the Indian economy.

Solution (c)

Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES)

• ARIES is an autonomous institute of Department of Science & Technology (DST).
• Asia’s largest and first of its kind optical telescope was unveiled at Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) at Devasthal in Nainital District, Uttrakahnd. 
• Recently, astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) have found out the reasons behind intense star formation in some dwarf galaxies.

Solution (a)

AustroSat

• AstroSat is a multi-wavelength astronomy mission on an IRS-class (Indian Remote Sensing-Class) satellite in a 650-km, near-equatorial orbit.
• It was launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota by ISRO.
• It is the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed at studying celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands simultaneously with its five unique X-ray and ultraviolet telescopes working in tandem.
• One of the unique features of AstroSat mission is that it enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite.
• The Ground Command and Control Centre for ASTROSAT is located at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, India.