• The prestigious Jnanpith Award for literature has been announced for the Malayalam poet Akkitham Achuthan Namboodri.
• The award consists of Rs 11 lakh, a statue of Vagdevi, a citation and a memento.

• The Jnanpith Award is the highest literary award given by the Indian Jnanpith Trust for Indian literature.
• Any citizen of India who writes in any of the 22 languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule is eligible for this award.
• An award of eleven lakh rupees, a citation and a bronze statue of Vagdevi are given in the award.
• This award, which started in 1965 with prize money of Rs 1 lakh, has been increased to Rs 7 lakh in 2005, which have now been eleven lakh rupees.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Spike Long Range missile) + Mains (GS III security challenges and their management)
What's the NEWS

• The Indian Army has successfully test-fired two newly-acquired Spike LR (long-range) anti-tank missiles at the Infantry School at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.

Know! about Spike LR

• Spike LR is a fourth generation missile that can engage a target with precision at ranges up to four km.
• It is developed and designed by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
• The missile is man-portable and has its own vehicle-launch and helicopter-launched variants.
• In addition to fire and forget capability, the missile also has the ability to fire, observe and update, providing substantial flexibility to the firer to pinpoint the impact point, as also the ability to switch to a different target mid-flight, should he want to do so. The firer also has the option to fire from either low or high trajectory.
• The missile would help provide substantial flexibility to the shooter to pinpoint the exact impact point.
• The missile has an inbuilt seeker, which gives the firer the flexibility to use any of two modes: Day (CCD) and Night (IIR).
• The dual seeker adds to the missile's reliability, already established at more than 90 per cent during the field evaluation by the Indian Army in 2011.
• Since the induction and training, this was the first time that soldiers from the Indian Army carried out practice firing of the missile.
• The missile also has the ability to switch to a different target mid-flight, if the shooter decides to do so. It also offers the shooter, the option to fire from either low or high trajectory.
• As of date, more than 5,000 Spike missiles have been fired worldwide, with the overall hit percentage being more than 95 per cent.

Governance/Reports
Most Corrupt States in India 2019: Rajasthan Tops, Delhi & Odisha Among Least
India Corruption Survey 2019
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the findings of India corruption survey )
What's the NEWS

• Rajasthan tops the corruption chart in India, according to the latest India Corruption Survey conducted by the Local Circles and the Transparency International India.

Know! about the survey and its findings

• As per the survey, 78 per cent people in Rajasthan, participating in the survey, admitted to paying a bribe to get the work done.
• As compared to 2018, India's overall ranking in Corruption Perception Index has risen 3 places to 78 out of 180 countries. While an average of 56% of respondents admitted to paying bribes in 2018, the number has come down to 51% in 2019.
• Rajasthan is followed by Bihar where 75 % of citizens admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done.
• Uttar Pradesh ranks third in the list where 74 % of citizens admitted to paying a bribe
• Jharkhand shares the third spot with UP, where 74 per cent citizens admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done.
• Telangana rounds off the top 5 list of 'Most Corrupt States in India'. Approximately 67 per cent of citizens said that they paid bribes to get numerous pending work completed. (Image: Reuters)
• Punjab ranks sixth in the list where 63 per cent citizens in Punjab accepted to paying bribes to get their work done.
• Kerala is one of the least corrupt states according to the list where only 10 per cent of people admitted to paying a bribe to get their work done
• Besides Kerala, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal, Odisha, Haryana and Delhi are the least corrupt states.

Economic Development
Aditya Birla Finance becomes first company to list commercial papers on exchanges
Relevance IN - Prelims (about NBFC and about Commercial papers) + Mains (GS III economic development)
What's the NEWS

• Aditya Birla Finance Ltd (ABFL), the NBFC arm of Aditya Birla Capital, became the first company to list its commercial papers on the stock exchanges.
• The move comes after the exchanges -- the BSE and the NSE -- came out with a framework for listing of commercial papers (CPs), in a bid to broaden investors' participation in such securities.

Know! the benefits of CP

• Listing of CPs is expected to lead to efficient transmission of information regarding corporate borrowings and liquidity positions to market participants, the NSE said in a statement.
• It will also contribute effectively towards the development of the commercial paper market and is expected to have a positive effect on the debt capital market, it added.
• ABFL is a well-diversified non-banking finance company (NBFC) with a long-term credit rating of AAA (stable) from both ICRA as well as India Ratings.

Know! about CP

• CP is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of promissory notes that enables highly rated corporate borrowers to diversify their sources of short-term borrowings and provides an additional instrument to investors.
• Commercial papers can be issued for maturities between a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of up to one year from the date of issue. CP are usually issued at a discount from face value and reflects prevailing market interest rates.
  
  

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