Q What is Article 244(A)?A Article 244(A) allows for the creation of an ‘autonomous state’ within Assam in certain tribal areas.Inserted into the Constitution in 1969 by the then government, it also has a provision for a Legislature and a Council of Ministers. Q. How is it different from the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution? A The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution — Articles 244(2) and 275(1) — is a special provision that allows for greater political autonomy and decentralized governance.It is applicable to certain t... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will meet civil society leaders from Ladakh amid persistent demands and protests in the Union Territory for statehood and constitutional safeguards under the sixth schedule of the Constitution.Ladakh is a region in the northernmost part of India, bordering China and Pakistan.The region is home to several ethnic groups, including the Ladakhi people, who are predominantly Buddhist. Q Why is there demand for Sixth Schedule in Ladakh ?A There has been a demand from the local tribal communities... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Central IdeaEngineers India (EIL) is conducting a feasibility study for developing salt cavern-based strategic oil reserves in Rajasthan, India, to increase the country’s storage capacity.If successful, it would be India’s first oil storage facility using salt caverns, different from the existing rock cavern-based strategic storage facilities. Read More...
Q What is Solar Storm ?A A solar storm or a Coronal Mass Ejection as astronomers call it is an ejection of highly magnetized particles from the sun.These particles can travel several million km per hour and can take about 13 hours to five days to reach Earth.Earth’s atmosphere protects us, humans, from these particles.But the particles can interact with our Earth’s magnetic field, induce strong electric currents on the surface and affect man-made structures.Q How did they impact SpaceX satellites?A The issue came up due to increase... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. At COP27, a broad coalition of 18 governments joined together to create a new high-level group ‘Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) on Sea-level Rise and Mountain Water Resources’.Q. What is AMI Group?A. The “AMI” group aims to ensure impacts of cryosphere loss is understood by political leaders and the public, and not only within mountain and polar regions, but throughout the planet.The founding governments of the group include Chile (co-chair), Iceland (co-chair), P... Read More...
Integrating Credit Cards to UPIThe integration will first begin with the indigenous RuPay credit cards.Both the RuPay network and UPI are managed by the same organisation – the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).Q. What is UPI?A.UPI is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) facilitating inter-bank transactions.The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform.Q. Why such move? Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. A political party recently called for the long-delayed Women's Reservation Bill to be introduced in Parliament.The Rajya Sabha passed the Women's Reservation Bill on 9 March 2010. However, the Lok Sabha never voted on the bill. The bill lapsed since it was still pending in Lok Sabha. Q. What is the Background of the Reservation for Women in Politics in India?A. The issue of reservation for women in politics can be traced b... Read More...
Q What are War Crime?A War crimes are defined as serious violations of humanitarian laws during a conflict.There are specific international standards for war crimes, which are not to be confused with crimes against humanity.The definition is established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).It is derived from the 1949 Geneva Conventions and is based on the idea that individuals can be held liable for the actions of a state or its military.There is a long list of acts that can be considered war crimes.The taking of h... Read More...
Q Who will launch the central bank digital currency (CBDC)?A The Reserve Bank of India will launch the CBDC in the upcoming financial year.This follows the government’s plans to launch the CBDC that will be backed by blockchain technology. Q What is a CBDC?A CBDC is a legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form.It is similar to a fiat currency issued in paper and is interchangeable with any other fiat currency.One chief difference will be that a Digital Rupee transaction will be instantaneous as opposed to the... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) has sequenced about 1,00,000 samples.Q What is INSACOG?A INSACOG is a consortium of 10 labs and 18 satellite labs across India tasked with scanning COVID samples from patients and finding the variants that has led to spike in transmission.The institutes involved include the laboratories of the Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Health Ministry.Its work began in January 2020, by sequenc... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Researchers have identified and mapped 139 gigatonnes (Gt) of “irrecoverable carbon” in some of the world’s major forests and peatlands including the Amazon and the Congo to avoid catastrophic climate change. Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A The Ministry of Science & Technology has launched the Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) fellowships programme. Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).CPR (not-for-profit society), along with Oxfam India and the Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF), was surveyed by the Income Tax department earlier. Q. What is the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act?A. About:FCRA was enacted during the Eme... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. India recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of Pokhran-II on 11th May 2023 marking the successful nuclear bomb test explosions which became a significant milestone in its journey to become a nuclear power.May 11 is also celebrated as the National Technology Day to honour Indian scientists, engineers and technologists, who worked for the country's scientific and technological advancement and ensured the successful conduct of Pokhran tests. Q. What is Pokhran-II and ... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC) unanimously ruled previously that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners shall be made by the President on the advice of a Committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India (CJI).In case no leader of Opposition is available, the leader of the largest opposition Party in the Lok Sabha in terms of numerical strength will be a part of such committee.... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News? A. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), as part of its Vision Insurance for all’ by 2047, has allotted states and union territories to every insurer to increase insurance penetration in India. IRDAI is also planning to launch Bima Trinity - Bima Sugam, Bima Vistar, Bima Vaahaks – in collaboration with general and life insurance firms to make insurance activities hassle free. Q. What is IRDAI Vision 20... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Historical importance of good nutrition was ignored by the modern therapist who tried to control TB initially with streptomycin injection, isoniazid and para-aminosalisylic acid. In the ecstasy of finding antibiotics killing the germs, the social determinants of disease were ignored. Q Why is there Lack of patient-centric TB treatment ?AWith more drug arsenals such as rifampicin, ethambutol, pyrazinamide, the fight against TB bacteria continued, which became multidrug resistant.The regimes and the mode of delivery of drugs were changed to ... Read More...
Q. What is Stockholm Conference, 1972?A.Background:Climate change was first discussed using emerging scientific evidence in the UN General Assembly in 1968.In 1967, a research study provided the actual estimates of global temperature based on CO2 levels. Also, it was predicted that the doubling of CO2 from the current level would result in nearly 2°C rise in global temperature.The idea of the Stockholm Conference was first proposed by Sweden. Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. Recently, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) (Ministry of Power) released a new publication titled Report on Optimal Generation Mix 2030 Version 2.0.This is an updated version of the report published in 2020 titled Report on Optimal Generation Capacity Mix for 2029-30.The report highlights the changes expected in India's energy mix, with a decline in coal's share and a rise in renewable energy (RE) sources.Earlier, the CEA released the latest draft... Read More...