05 July 2022 – Current Affairs

 

Digital India Week 2022 Inauguration

Paper 3 – Science & Technology

Why Should You Know?

On July 4, 2022 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Digital India Week 2022.

In details –

• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Digital India Week 2022, whose theme is ‘Catalyzing New India’s Techade’ in Gandhinagar.
• During the programme, he also launched multiple digital initiatives aimed at enhancing the accessibility of technology, streamlining service delivery to ensure ease of living and giving a boost to startups.
• He also announced the first cohort of 30 Institutions to be supported under the Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme.
• Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Union Minister, Union Ministers Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw and Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, state ministers, people’s representatives, startups, and other stakeholders of the sector were among those present on the occasion.

About the programme –

• Digital India Week 2022 will have physical events from 4th to 6th July in Gandhinagar.
• The programme will celebrate the anniversary of Digital India and demonstrate how public digital platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, Cowin, Digilocker etc., have enabled ease of living for citizens.
• It will showcase India’s technological prowess to the global audience, explore collaboration and business opportunities with a wide range of stakeholders, and present the Techade of opportunities for NextGen.
• It will witness the participation of Startups and leaders from Government, Industry & Academia. A Digital Mela is also being organised with over 200 stalls that will showcase digital solutions enabling ease of living and also the solutions that Indian Unicorns and Startups have developed.
• Digital India Week will also have India Stack Knowledge Exchange in virtual mode from 7th to 9th July.

Details of the initiatives launched –

Digital India Bhashini –

• ‘Digital India Bhashini’ will enable easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, and help the creation of content in Indian languages.
• The key intervention in building AI-based language technology solutions for Indian languages will be the creation of multilingual datasets.
• Digital India Bhashini will enable massive citizen engagement to build these datasets through a crowdsourcing initiative called BhashaDaan.

Digital India GENESIS –

• ‘Digital India GENESIS’ (Gen-next Support for Innovative Startups) – a National Deep-tech Startup Platform, to discover, support, grow and make successful startups in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India.
• A total outlay of ₹750 Crore has been envisaged for the scheme.

‘Indiastack.global’ –

• ‘Indiastack.global’ – a global repository of key projects implemented under India Stack like Aadhaar, UPI, Digilocker, Cowin Vaccination Platform, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), DIKSHA Platform and Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission.
• This offering of India to the Global Public Digital Goods repository will help position India as the leader in building Digital Transformation projects at a population scale and prove to be of immense help to other countries which are looking for such technology solutions.

MyScheme –

• ‘MyScheme’ – a service discovery platform facilitating access to Government Schemes.
• It aims to offer a one-stop search and discovery portal where users can find schemes that they are eligible for.

Meri Pehchaan –

• He will also dedicate to the citizens ‘Meri Pehchaan’-  National Single Sign On for One Citizen Login.
• National Single Sign-On (NSSO) is a user authentication service in which a single set of credentials provide access to multiple online applications or services.

Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme –

• The C2S Programme aims to train specialized manpower in the area of design of semiconductor chips at Bachelors, Masters and Research levels, and act as a catalyst for the growth of Startups involved in semiconductor design in the country.
• It offers to mentor at the organisational level and makes available State-of-the-art facilities for design to the institutions.
• This is part of the India Semiconductor Mission to build a strong design ecosystem in semiconductors.

State Start Up Ranking 2021

Paper 2 – Government Policies

Why Should You Know?

Recently The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) launched the State Start Up Ranking 2021.

In details –

• The results of the third edition of Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems were released by Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles.
• It is noteworthy For the purposes of the Ranking, States and Union Territories are classified into 5 Categories, viz. Best Performers, Top Performers, Leaders, Aspiring Leaders and Emerging Start-up Ecosystems.
• Gujarat and Karnataka emerged as the Best Performers in a category of States which included NCT of Delhi.
• Meghalaya won the top honour among UTs and North-eastern (NE) States. While Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and Telangana got the Top Performers award among states, Jammu & Kashmir emerged as the Top Performer among UTs and NE states.
• Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nādu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh were adjudged the winners in the Leaders category among states; Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa bagged the Leaders honour among the UTs and NE states.
• Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were declared as Aspiring Leaders among the States.
• Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Puducherry and Tripura were the Aspiring Leaders from the UTs and NE states.
• Andhra Pradesh and Bihar from States category and Mizoram and Ladakh from the UTs/NE States were clubbed under the Emerging Start-up Ecosystem.

Background –

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been conducting the States’ Start-up Ranking Exercise since 2018 to facilitate the ease of building a start-up and doing business across the country.
• The State Start-up Ranking Exercise aims to support states and union territories in developing their start-up ecosystem and learn from the best practices in each state and union territory.

About third edition –

• The exercise has grown in its impact over the last three editions, with 31 participating states and union territories this edition, the highest till date.
• The consideration period for the third edition of the States Startup Ranking Exercise was 1st October 2019 to 31st July 2021. The documentary evidence submitted was evaluated over a 6-month duration.
• The evaluation committee across 14 meetings assessed each document and was composed of representatives from 19 government departments and 29 non-government startup ecosystem stakeholders, for fair and transparent evaluation.
• The participants were evaluated across 7 broad Reform Areas consisting of 26 Action Points ranging from Institutional Support, Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Access to Market, Incubation support, Funding Support, Mentorship Support to Capacity Building of Enablers. The exercise plays a crucial role in easing the business environment for start-ups in the country.
• The States Startup Ranking 2021 highlighted the support being extended by over 30 states and union territories through startup policies to the ecosystem. There were only 4 states with startup policies prior to 2016.
• The state startup teams have been extending support across mentorship, incubation and funding. Moreover, feedback was gathered from more than 7,000 beneficiaries through surveys made in 13 different languages to grasp the real situation at the execution level.
• The States and Union Territories have been placed alphabetically within each category. Additionally, in each reform area, the states who are recognized as Leaders for their exceptional work in the particular reform area are also shared.
• The felicitation ceremony was accompanied by the release of the National Report which highlights the vision, framework, evolution across the years, methodology and implementation, and the way ahead for the States` Startup Ranking.
• A State Specific Report for each of the 31 participating States and Union Territories has also been released, containing an extensive analysis of respective ecosystem, which highlights strengths and priority areas for future.

Service charge for food bill

Paper 3 – Economy

Why Should You Know?

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued guidelines for preventing unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights with regard to levying of service charge in hotels and restaurants.

In details –

• The guidelines issued by CCPA stipulate that hotels or restaurant shall not add service charge automatically or by default in the food bill.
• No collection of service charge shall be done by any other name. No hotel or restaurant shall force a consumer to pay service charge and shall clearly inform the consumer that service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion.
• No restriction on entry or provision of services based on collection of service charge shall be imposed on consumers. Service charge shall not be collected by adding it along with the food bill and levying GST on the total amount. The guidelines can be accessed by clicking on the link.
• If any consumer finds that a hotel or restaurant is levying service charge in violation to the guidelines, a consumer may make a request to the concerned hotel or restaurant to remove service charge from the bill amount.

consumer may lodge a complaint –

• Also, the consumer may lodge a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), which works as an alternate dispute redressal mechanism at the pre-litigation level by calling 1915 or through the NCH mobile app.
• The consumer may also file a complaint against unfair trade practice with the Consumer Commission.
• The Complaint can also be filed electronically through e-daakhil portal www.e-daakhil.nic.in for its speedy and effective redressal.
• Furthermore, the consumer may submit a complaint to the District Collector of the concerned district for investigation and subsequent proceeding by the CCPA. The complaint may also be sent to the CCPA by e-mail at com-ccpa@nic.in.

Background –

• A number of complaints have been registered in the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) by consumers with regard to levying of service charge.
• The issues raised by consumers include restaurants making service charge compulsory and adding it in the bill by default, suppressing that paying such charge is optional and voluntary and embarrassing consumers in case they resist paying service charge.
• Various cases relating to levying of service charge have also been decided by consumer commissions in favor of consumers, holding the same as an unfair trade practice and in violation of consumer rights.

 Unauthorized construction on defense land

Paper 2- Governement Policies

Why Should You Know?

The Directorate General Defence Estates (DGDE) develops AI-based software to detect unauthorised constructions & encroachments on defence land.

In details –

• Centre of Excellence on Satellite & Unmanned Remote Vehicle Initiative (CoE-SURVEI) has developed an Artificial Intelligence-based software which can automatically detect change on ground, including unauthorised constructions and encroachments in a time series using Satellite Imagery.
• The CoE-SURVEI, established by Directorate General Defence Estates at National Institute of Defence Estates Management, leverages latest technologies in survey viz. satellite imagery, drone imagery and geo-spatial tools for effective land management and urban planning.
• The CoE was inaugurated by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on December 16, 2021.
• This Change Detection Software has been developed by CoE-SURVEI in collaboration with knowledge partner Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Visakhapatnam. Presently, the tool uses National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) Cartosat-3 imagery with trained software. The changes are detected by analysing satellite imagery of different time periods.
• The application has been used by CoE in 62 Cantonments and comparison done with ground position in recent period. The tool enables Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Cantonment Boards to identify changes on ground that are of permanent nature and then enables them to check if such changes are authorised or without due sanction of the competent authority.
• It leads the CEO to know if action has been taken in time against unauthorised constructions or encroachments and if not, suitable legal action can be taken without delay.

About the software –

• The software facilitates better control on unauthorised activities, ensures accountability of field staff and helps in reducing corrupt practices. It was known that out of 1,133 unauthorised changes detected, the action was already taken in 570 cases.
• In the remaining 563 cases, wherever legal action is warranted the same has been initiated by the Cantonment Boards after changes were detected by the tool.
• The change detection tool has resulted in effective defence land management. Efforts are on to further fine tune and upgrade it to achieve higher accuracy. The CoE has now partnered with a couple of other reputed organisations for improved AI interface with change detection tool so as to enhance the functionality of change detection software. This may specifically benefit DGDE and Services in management of defence land located in remote and inhospitable terrains.
• The CoE-SURVEI has also developed tools for vacant land analysis and 3D imagery analysis of hill cantonments for land management. By leveraging technology, it is trying to ensure optimum use of defence land through Geographic Information System (GIS)-based land management systems.

About Directorate General, Defence Estates (DGDE) –

• Directorate General, Defence Estates  (DGDE) is the Headquarters of the Indian  Defence Estates Service.
• DGDE provides advisory inputs on all  Cantonments and Land matters to the Ministry of Defence and Service Headquarters ie Army, Navy,  Air Force  and other organizations under Ministry of Defence. 
• Acquisition of lands,  Resettlement and Rehabilitation of displaced persons, Hiring and requisitioning of lands and buildings, are some of the responsibilities of DGDE.
• It also ensures implementation of Cantonments Act 2006, Policies, Rules & Regulations and Executive instructions.
• DGDE has under its jurisdiction six Principal Directorates namely, Principal Directors, Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern,  South-western  and Western Command. Under the Principal Directorates there are 38 Defence Estates Offices and 4 ADEO Circles for management of defence lands in the country.
• There are 62 Cantonment Boards.  These are local bodies  responsible for providing civic administration and implementing the Central Govt schemes of social welfare, public health, hygiene, safety, water supply, sanitation, urban renewal and education.  

 Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation (TiHAN)

Paper 3 – Science & Technology

Why Should You Know?

Recently Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated the first of its kind, state-of-the-art “Autonomous Navigation” facility to develop unmanned ground and aerial vehicles at the IIT Hyderabad campus.

In details –

• Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated first-of-its-kind, state-of-the-art “Autonomous Navigation” facility to develop unmanned ground and aerial vehicles in the IIT Hyderabad campus.
• The Minister also interacted with Startups developing unmanned ground motor vehicles like driver-less self-driven motor cars, driver-less self-driven bicycles etc., and unmanned aerial vehicles including drones in different shapes and sizes.
• Funded by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology at a budget of Rs.130 crore, the “Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation” is a multidisciplinary initiative, which will make India a global player in the futuristic and next generation “Smart Mobility” technology”.
• The Minister also appreciated that IIT Hyderabad has established a new Post-Graduation course of M.Tech in “Smart Mobility”, which is the first-of-its-kind in India.
• The Minister said, the vision of TiHAN-IITH, is to become a global player for next generation smart mobility technologies and the Ministry of Science & Technology has come forward to support this initiative, which will be a trendsetter for others as well.

Significance –

• limited testbeds or proving grounds exist worldwide to investigate the operation of unmanned and connected vehicles in a controlled environment by simulating various scenarios that may occur in real-life traffic operations, ranging from frequently occurring to extreme cases.
• A few examples include Millbrook Proving Grounds in the UK, M-City in the USA, CETRAN in Singapore, K-City in South Korea, JARI in Japan, etc. In India, there is presently no such testbed facility for assessing autonomous vehicle performance, and hence the need for this TiHAN Testbed.
• Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Foundation (TiHAN)-IITH has already taken many forward looking initiatives to promote innovation in the mobility sector.
• TiHAN Testbed will provide a unique platform for high quality research between academia, industry and R&D labs both at the national and international level, thus making India a global leader in autonomous navigation technologies.
• the TiHAN-IITH testbed on Autonomous Navigations (Aerial & Terrestrial) will allow us testing the next generation autonomous navigation technologies accurately and allow faster technology development and global market penetration.

Facilities –

• TiHAN is developing and deploying a real-time CPS system utilising autonomous UAVs and ground/surface vehicles for many application sectors of the national importance of this decade. He said, this testbed includes simulation platforms that allow for non-destructive testing of algorithms and prototypes.
• Also, several real-world scenarios can be emulated on the testbed. In terrestrial systems, a few examples of these scenarios are Smart Cities, Signalised Intersections, Autonomous Vehicle Interactions with Cyclists and Pedestrians, Wireless Networking among vehicles and Road-Side Units, etc.
• The autonomous vehicle testbed also provides dummy signboards, pedestrians, overpasses, and bikers to test all real-world conditions.
• The testing facility also includes an airstrip, soft landing area, hangar for keeping drones, a Ground control station (GCS), Telemetry Station for Performance Evaluation. Performance evaluation of Payloads such as LiDAR, radar, camera, etc., is being evaluated.
• Control transition between manual and autonomous operation, and studies on public acceptance of driverless vehicles. The standard operating procedures for unmanned vehicles, will significantly aid in formulating the regulations and operating policies for different applications in the Indian scenario.

About the mission –

• Under this national mission, IIT Hyderabad has been awarded the Technology Innovation Hub in the technological vertical of ‘Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, ROVs. etc.)’.
• NMICPS Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Foundation (TiHAN) is a multi-disciplinary initiative, including researchers from Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mathematics, Design, Liberal Arts and Entrepreneurship at IIT Hyderabad.
• TiHAN is recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO) by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Open Language Learning Resources

Paper 2 – Education

Why Should You Know?

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launches Open Language Learning Resources in five languages at EFLU in Hyderabad.

In details –

• On July 4, 2022 the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today launched the Open Language Learning Resources (OLLRs) in five languages at the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad.
• The university developed the tools to learn 5 languages easily and free of cost from anywhere. The OLLRs launched include Chinese, French German, Japanese and Spanish.
• Speaking on the occasion, the minister asked EFLU to create ecosystem for learning languages to those who are coming to India too. He said all Indian languages are national languages and asked EFLU can be a catalyst in creating language network.
• He said the central government is committed to education.  He said by next year, the ministry will have 200 education TV channels. Good content will be developed in multi lingual and language ply key role in technology. 
• the Minister further asked EFLU to play a big role in preparing human resource capable, and make them a source of knowledge. when the country is making efforts to be a global leader in ecademics.
• The Minister earlier inaugurated Amphitheatre and multi purpose sports complex on its campus.
• Rajya Sabha member Dr Lakshman informed that over 3000 posts in higher education, which are pending since long time, have been filled in 6 years. He asked the university to fill up all vacant posts especially those belonged to reserve category as soon as.

About English and Foreign Languages University –

• The English and Foreign Languages University known as EFLU is a central university for English and foreign languages located in Hyderabad, India.It is the only such university dedicated to languages in South Asia.
• EFLU, Hyderabad was founded in 1958 as the Central Institute of English by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister.
• The Central Institute of English, Hyderabad had started functioning with effect from 17 November 1958.
• It was renamed the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) in 1972 with the addition of three major foreign languages – German, Russian and French.
• The university offers the study of English and foreign languages like Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Turkish in the areas of Teacher Education, Literature, Linguistics, Interdisciplinary and Cultural Studies. 

Seychelles National Day

Paper 2 – International Relations

Why Should You Know?

On July 4,2022 A contingent of the Indian Navy took part in the Independence Day celebration parade in Seychelles.

In details –

• Indian Navy troops have participated in the Military Parade of the Independence Day celebrations of Seychelles. Since 1976 till now, the Indian Navy has been continuously present on the occasion of National Day of Seychelles.
• This year Indian Navy’s indigenous Missile Destroyer (Warship) INS Kolkata (IANS Kolkata) is operationally deployed in Seychelles.
• The country of Seychelles, a group of 115 islands, is located in the Indian Ocean close to the coast of East Africa and is an important friend-state for India from a strategic point of view.
• Every year Seychelles celebrates its Independence Day on 29 June. On the occasion of Independence Day this year, a grand military parade was organized in the capital Port-Victoria on Sunday, July 3, in which Seychelles Defense Forces as well as local citizens took part.
• In this parade, the marines stationed on the Indian Navy’s INS Kolkata warship also did a march-past. The marching band of the Navy also participated in this parade. INS Kolkata Stealth Guided Missile Destroyer patrolled the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with Dornier aircraft from Seychelles before participating in the military-parade.
• Operational training was also given to the sailors of Seychelles Defense Forces on INS Kolkata. During this, INS Kolkata also handed over the engines of Dornier aircraft brought to India by overhauling to the Seychelles army. Apart from this, engineering spare-parts for their ship were also handed over to the Seychelles Coastguard.

Strategic Relations between India and Seychelles –

• Strategic relations between India and Seychelles have strengthened significantly in recent years. Recently, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar had visited Seychelles.
• Apart from this, in the year 2018, PM Narendra Modi (PM Narendra Modi) had announced the help of 100 million dollars to strengthen the military capability of Seychelles.
• India is also preparing a Naval Base on the island of Seychelles where an airstrip is also being prepared. This naval base is also very important in this sense because China has already prepared a military-base in the African country of Djibouti.

 Salary, Allowances and Pension Amendment Bill

Paper 2 – Constitution

Why Should You Know?

Recently Delhi Assembly passed the Salary, Allowances and Pensions Amendment Bill.

In details –

• The Delhi Assembly passed the Wages, Allowances and Pension Amendment Bill 2022 on the first day of the two-day special session.
• Delhi government minister Kailash Gehlot introduced the Wage Amendment Bill.
• In this, 5 bills related to revision of salary, pension and allowances of Ministers, MLAs, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Whip and Leader of Opposition were introduced in the Assembly.
• This bill provides for increasing the salary and allowances of Ministers, Members of Legislative Assembly, Chief Whip, Speaker and Deputy Speaker and Leader of the Opposition from Rs.54 thousand to Rs.90 thousand.
• According to the new proposal, MLAs will get 30 thousand rupees instead of 12 thousand as salary and if all the allowances of MLAs are added, instead of 54 thousand rupees 90 thousand rupees will be given every month.
• Prior to this, the last increase in the salaries of MLAs and ministers of Delhi was done in 2011.
• Along with this, the pension of the members will also increase. After passing, the bill will be sent to the President for his assent.
• It is noteworthy that The session of Delhi Legislative Assembly has been called from July 4 to 5. On the other hand, keeping in mind the need, the proceedings of the House can be extended beyond the stipulated time.

 Operation NARCOS

Paper 3- Law & order

Why Should You Know?

Railway Protection Force (RPF) recently launched Operation Narcos (NARCOS).

In details –

• The Railway Protection Force (RPF) recently recovered narcotics worth more than Rs 7.40 crore under Operation Narcos (NARCOS).
• With a special focus on the menace of Narcotic Substances and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS), a month long all India campaign against drug trafficking through rail with the code “Operation Narcos” was launched in June-2022.
• RPF has intensified its investigation in trains and identified black spots across the country in coordination with Narcotics Control Bureau and other law enforcement agencies to target drug smugglers involved in this illegal trade.
• The RPF contingent is an armed force of the Union of India. It is a security force owned by the Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways.

About Railway Protection Force –

• Railway Protection Force is a security force under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India.
• It is established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957;enacted by the Indian Parliament for “the better protection and security of railway property and passenger area”.
• It has the power to search, arrest, investigate, and prosecute offenses committed under Railway Property (Unlawful Possession) Act 1966, The Railways Act, 1989 (amended from time to time).
• RPF has been entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding railway property.
• However the power of arrests under other penal laws rests in the hands of the Government Railway Police (GRP) of state police.The force is under the authority of the Indian Ministry of Railways.

 Rules of sorting and authentication of banknotes

Paper 3 – Economy

Why Should You Know?

Recently RBI amended the rules for sorting and authentication of banknotes.

In details –

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued guidelines directing banks to test their banknote sorting machines on a quarterly basis.
• The central bank revised the existing guidelines for authentication and sorting after the introduction of the new series of banknotes.
• The Reserve Bank said that in case of discrepancies during sorting, sellers will be required to re-calibrate the equipment.
• As per the new changes, banks should prepare a test deck containing at least 2,000 soiled notes, including mutilated and counterfeit Indian currency notes.
• The machine should be tested using notes of different denominations, including old and new series of Rs 100 notes, Rs 200 notes, Rs 500 notes and Rs 2,000 notes.
• After reviewing these parameters in the light of issuance of new series of banknotes, a new set of instructions is attached for implementation. According to the data of RBI’s annual report for 2021-22, banknotes are now issued in the following denominations: Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2000 Rupees.
• In terms of value, the combined ratio of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 banknotes accounts for 87.1 per cent of the banknotes in use.
• When it comes to quantity, the largest percentage of banknotes in circulation till March 31 were in the Rs 500 denomination, accounting for 34.9 per cent of the total.