Current Affairs for Engineering Service Exam
Video Lectures and Test Series for ESE 2019

Topics list:
- National and International Issues on
- Economic Development
- Social Development
- Industrial Development
- Energy and Environment
- Energy
- Environment
- Information and Communication Technology
- Technology
- Application
- The Key Initiatives of Government
- General Knowledge
Topic 1:Industrial development
Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme
To cater to the needs and aspirations of the youth, the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has come up with a youth-friendly scheme ‘Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme” for attracting them to cooperative business ventures.
The scheme:
- The scheme will be linked to ‘Cooperative Start-up and Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC.
- The funding for the project will be up to 80% of the project cost for these special categories as against 70% for others.
- All types of cooperatives in operation for at least one year are eligible.
About NCDC:
- The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1963 as a statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
- Functions:
- Planning, promoting and financing programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, food stuffs, certain other notified commodities.
- The area of operation of the Corporation to assist different types of cooperatives and to expand its financial base.
- To finance projects in the rural industrial cooperative sectors and for certain notified services in rural areas like water conservation, irrigation and micro irrigation, agri-insurance, agro-credit, rural sanitation, animal health, etc.
Read more at:PIB
Topic 2 : Environment
Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary
Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary in Vedaranyam Range has been closed for a week in view of water-logging caused by a heavy spell of rainfall.
Highlights:
- It is located in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu.
- It is a protected area and a Ramsar site.
- It harbors the single-largest stretch of the unique dry-evergreen forest in the country besides open grasslands and tidal mudflats is of interest to tourists.
- Around 100 species of birds including the Greater Flamingo, Painted Stork, Little Sting, Sea Gull and Brown-headed gull have been making their presence felt since September.
- Blackbuck (Antilope Cervicapra) is the flagship species of the sanctuary.
- The important animals are the spotted deer, black-napped hare, wild boar, Indian jackal, feral horses, palm civet, short-nosed fruit bat, jungle cat and monitor lizard.
Read more at: The Hindu
Topic 3 : ICT
India GSLV Mk III-D2 successfully launches GSAT-29
India’s GSAT-29 communication satellite was successfully launched by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII-D2) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.
Highlights:
- ISRO’s Master Control Facility at Hassan has assumed the control of the satellite.
- The three orbit raising manoeuvers will be executed to position the satellite in the Geostationary Orbit at its designated location.
- GSAT-29 is a multiband, multi-beam communication satellite, intended to serve as test bed for several new and critical technologies.
- Its Ku-band and Ka-band payloads are configured to cater to the communication requirements of users including those from remote areas especially from Jammu & Kashmir and North-Eastern regions of India.
- In addition, the Q/V-Band communication payload onboard is intended to demonstrate the future high throughput satellite system technologies.
- Optical Communication Payload will demonstrate data transmission at a very high rate through optical communication link.
About GSLV MkIII:
- GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.
- GSLV Mk III is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of GSLV Mk II.
- The first developmental flight of GSLV Mk III, the GSLV-Mk III-D1 successfully placed GSAT-19 satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Read more at: PIB
Bhoomi Rashi Portal
Digitalisation in India is reaching new heights and the Bhoomi Rashi portal has changed the land acquisition system in the country.
Highlights:
- The portal allows for totally digital and paper-less processing of land acquisition cases, and has resulted in transparent, quick, corruption-free and error-free handling of land acquisition cases.
- It has also made the possible real-time tracking of activities and generation of reports relating to land acquisition.
- With Bhoomi Rashi portal this amount directly transferred into the account of the person concerned, through Public Financial Management System which is an integral part of the portal.
- The process is also environment friendly since there is no physical movement of files – all work is done digitally.
- It is under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
Read more at: PIB
ExoMars
ExoMars is a joint space venture between European Space Agency and Russian space agency Roscosmos to Mars.
Key Facts:
- The ExoMars programme comprises 2 missions.
- The first mission was launched in 2016 and consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator module.
- The second mission is planned to be launched in 2020 and comprises a rover and surface science platform.
- The rover that will carry a drill and a suite of instruments dedicated to search for possible existence of life beyond earth and geochemistry research.
- It is likely to land on Mars’ equator called Oxia Planum, which had housed a massive pool of water in the prehistoric era.
Read more at: IndianExpress