Q Why is it in News? India’s first bamboo-dwelling bat with sticky disks, has been found near Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in Meghalaya. Read More...
Q Why is it in News? ARIES facility (Aryabhata Research Institute for Observational Sciences) will host the support centre for Aditya-L1 mission, which is due to be launched next year (2022). ARIES is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology and is located in Nainital (Uttarakhand). Q What is Aditya-L1 Mission? It is India’s first scientific expedition to study the Sun. It will... Read More...
Q Why is it in News? India has invoked the peace clause at the World Trade Organization (WTO), for the second time, for exceeding the 10 per cent ceiling on support it offered its rice farmers. India had earlier invoked the clause for 2018-19, when it became the first country to do so. India informed the WTO that the value of its rice production in 2019-20 was $46.07 billion while it gave subsidies worth $6.31 billion, or 13.7 per cent as against the permitted 10 per cent. Read More...
Q Why is it in News? The Union Education Minister recently launched the world’s first Microsensor based Explosive Trace Detector called the “NanoSniffer”. Q What is a NanoSniffer? The NanoSniffer was developed by an IIT Bombay incubated startup called NanoSniff Technologies. It is marketed by the IIT Delhi incubated startup Kritikal Solutions. The NanoSniffer can detect explosives in less than ten seconds. Read More...
Q What are Constitutional provisions for Lok Adalats? The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976, inserted Article 39A to ensure “equal justice and free legal aid”. To this end, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, was enacted by Parliament and it came into force in 1995. The Act seeks “to provide free and competent legal services to weaker sections of the society” and to “organise Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basi... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ? The RBI, for the year 2021-22, has decided to put in place a secondary market Government Security (G-sec) Acquisition Programme or G-SAP 1.0. Q What is Government Securities Acquisition Programme (G-SAP)? It is part of RBIs Open Market Operations. Under the programme, the RBI will commit upfront to a specific amount of Open Market Purchases of government securities. The first purchase of go... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ? A There has been various talks about India should engage with NATO at various Global platforms. Q Why India avoided engagement with NATO in the past? India’s real problem is not with NATO, but with India’s difficulty in thinking strategically about Europe. Through the colonial era, India viewed Europe through British eyes. After Independence... Read More...
Q. Why in News? Recently, the Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to fill up the vacant posts of chairperson and five other members of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) by 31st July 2021. Q. How is Minority Commission formed? In 1978, setting up of the Minorities Commission (MC) was envisaged in the Ministry of Home Affairs Resolution. Read More...
Q. What is the news? Recently , The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to continue with the existing interim Ways and Means Advances (WMA) scheme limit of Rs. 51,560 crore for all States/UTs up to September 2021, given the prevalence of Covid-19. Q. What is Ways and Means Advances? The WMA scheme was introduced in 1997. Its objective is to meet mismatches in the receipt... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news? The election results in Kerala will have a major bearing on the path of development that the State would take in the coming years and thus can alter Kerala model of development. Q. What is Kerala model of development? The Kerala model of development refers to the practices adopted in Kerala, which is characterized by strong social indicators such as high literacy, improved access to healthcare, high life expectancy, low infant mort... Read More...
Q Whys is it in News? Recently, the Union government amended the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017, bringing insurance brokers within the ambit of the Insurance Ombudsman and also allowed policy holders to file online complaints. These amendments will strengthen the timeliness and cost-effectiveness of the mechanisms. Q Which provisions have been amended? Enlarged the Scope Of Complaints: Earlier it was only disputes. Now the amended rules will cover even the deficiencies in service on the pa... Read More...
Q Why is it in News? The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a digital liberties organisation, has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that the cyber crime volunteers concept will lead to a “culture of surveillance and constant suspicion in society creating potential social distrust”. Q What is Cyber Crime Volunteers Concept? Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has envisaged the Cyber Crime Volunteers Program to bring t... Read More...
Q Why is it in News? A The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India under its “Waste to Wealth” Mission launched the “Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship”. Q What is Swachhta Saarthi Fellowship and what are its objectives? Objectives: To recognize students, community workers/self-help groups, and municipal/sanitary workers who are engaged in tackling the enormous challenge of waste managemen... Read More...
Why is it in News? Indian Scientists from Bangalore have developed a highly reliable, High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMTs) that is normally in the OFF state, the device and can switch currents up to 4A and operates at 600V. What is HEMT? A high electron mobility transistor or HEMT is a type of field-effect transistor (FET) that is used to produce a high performance at microwave frequencies. Read More...
Q. What is the news? Himanchal Pradesh government recently announced that they are coming up with a policy to allow controlled cultivation of hemp or cannabis in the state. This means the state wants to legalise commercial cultivation of the plant for non-recreational uses such as making medicines and fabrics. Q. Isn’t cannabis cultivation illegal in India? It has a subjective aspect. In 1985, India banned the cultivation of cannabis plant under th... Read More...
Q. What is the news? The Ministry of Mines has issued a National non-ferrous metal scrap recycling framework, 2020 in a bid to cut down the scrap imports. It also seeks to use a life cycle management approach for better efficiency in the mineral value chain process. Q. What are the objectives of the recycling framework? To work towards econ... Read More...
Q. What is the news? aQ. What is ILP System? The ILP system restricts movement in areas close to the border for everyone other than those with a formal permission. In Uttarakhand, tourists have to obtain ILP for locations near China border, at least in the three districts of Uttarkashi, Pithoragarh and Chamoli. Q. What is the demand by Uttarakhand Government ? While the Uttarakhand government had requested that two locations be made free from ILP so far, local a... Read More...
Q. What is the news? Recently, CSIR Floriculture Mission has been approved for implementation in 21 States and Union Territories of India. Q. What is this mission? Floriculture is a branch of horticulture that deals with the cultivation, processing and marketing of ornamental plant vis-à-vis landscaping of small or large areas, and maintenance of gardens so that the surroundings may appear aesth... Read More...
Q. What is the news? Recently , Maharashtra Power Minister announced that a State Cyber Cell probe had found 14 Trojan horses in the servers of the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company. These malwares had the potential to disrupt power distribution in the State. The announcement came in the wake of a report from Recorded Future, a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm, stating that a group linked to the Chinese government, which it called ‘Red Echo’, had targeted 10 vital nodes in India’s power distribution system and two seaports. Read More...
Q. What is the News? Recently, the government has notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021. These new rules broadly deal with social media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. These rules have been framed in exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011. These IL ru... Read More...