August 4 - August 20 Flashcards

Question

What is the dispute settlements here? Who lives there? West Bank

Answer 1

The West Bank was captured by Jordan after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Israel snatched it back during the Six Day War of 1967, and has occupied it ever since. During this war, the country defeated the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. It has built some 130 formal settlements in the West Bank, and a similar number of smaller, informal settlements have mushroomed over the last 20-25 years. Over 4 lakh Israeli settlers — many of them religious Zionistswho claim a Biblical birthright over this land — now live here, along with some 26 lakh Palestinians. The territory is still a point of contention due to a large number of Palestinians who live there and hope to see the land become a part of their future state. When Israel took control of the land in 1967 it allowed Jewish people to move in, but Palestinians consider the West Bank illegally occupied Palestinian land.

Answer 2

Context: ISRO pays tribute to Dr Vikram Sarabhai by announcing that Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter has captured the Moon images of “Sarabhai” Crater. About Vikram Sarabhai and his contributions: Vikram Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919. Sarabhai was instrumental in forming India’s future in astronomy and setting up the country’s space research facilities.

Answer 3

Based on his persuasion, the Indian government agreed to set up the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR)in 1962. He was the first chairman of the committee. The INCOSPAR was restructured and renamed as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in 1969. Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad in the year 1947. The laboratory started its operation from RETREAT, Sarabhai’s residence in Ahmedabad. Its first topic of research was cosmic rays. He also set up India’s first rocket launch site in Thumba, a small village near the Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala. Vikram Sarabhai was also responsible for bringing cable television to India. His constant contact with NASA paved a way for the establishment of Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) in 1975. Sarabhai was the mastermind behind building India’s first satellite, Aryabhata. He was one of the founding members of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). Vikram Sarabhai received the Padma Bhushan in 1966for his contribution to India’s progress. He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1972, posthumously.

Answer 4

SRIJAN is the Ministry of Defence’s portal which acts as a one-stop-shop online portal that provides access to the vendors to take up items that can be taken up for indigenization.

Answer 5

Launched by Tribal Affairs Minister recently. The online portal will act as a one-stop solution presenting all information pertaining to tribal health and nutrition-related to Scheduled Tribes. The portal will be managed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Knowledge Management in Health and Nutrition.

Answer 6

It is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme ‘Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’. National Health Authority is the successor of National Health Agency, which was functioning as a registered society since 23rd May, 2018. NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare.

Answer 7

Coral reefs Because they protects coastline from storms and erosion

Answer 8

Skimming Other techniques are 1. In situ burning 2. Releasing chemical dispersants

Answer 9

It was an indian organisation founded in London in 1905 that sought to promote the cause of self rule in British india The organisation is founded by shyamji krishna Varma

Answer 10

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan zoological park Its in West Bengal not in Ladakh

Answer 11

Kalinga style of Architecture It is dedicated to lord shiva and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar

Answer 12

Pandit Jasraj

Answer 13

State of UP vs Raj Narain S.P. Gupta vs President of India — 1981

Answer 14

Its having talks in secrecy

Answer 15

6 years or until he attains age of 65 years

Answer 16

President of India Not chief election commissioner

Answer 17

Judge of SC For Judge of HC this is not needed

Answer 18

Corsica is in France And Sardinia is in Italy See in Map

Answer 19

Suo Motu On a petition made by attorney general, or solicitor general On a petition made by any person in the case of criminal contempt with the consent on writing of attorney general or solicitor general

Answer 20

PM, Defence Minister, Home minister, Finance ,minister

Answer 21

Swachh Bharath abhiyan (urban) Here urban is imp The first survey was seen in 2016

Answer 22

Entities having more than 50 employees

Answer 23

Goa Its IUCN status is Vulnerable

Answer 24

Telangana It got GI tag also

Answer 25

Context: Supreme Court has delivered its judgement on PM CARES funds. What’s the issue? The petition was filed by an NGO named Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) had sought a direction to the Centre to transfer the funds of PM Cares Fund to the NDRF.

Answer 26

The Court has “refused” to order transfer of funds from the PM CARES Fund to the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). They “are two entirely different funds with different object and purpose”. PM CARES Fund, being a public charitable trust, “there is no occasion for audit by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India”. The Court also rejected the request for a new National Plan under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, to deal with Covid-19 situation. The court held that there is “no statutory prohibition on individuals to make voluntary contributions to NDRF” under Section 46(1)(b) of the DM Act. The court also declined to intervene with the “minimum standards of relief” and the necessary guidelines issued by the government under Section 12 of the DM Act.

Answer 27

Set up on March 28, the PM CARES Fund is a charitable trust registered under the Registration Act, 1908. The trust does not receive any Budgetary support or any Government money. It was constituted with an objective to extend assistance in the wake of public health emergency that is pandemic COVID-19”. Who administers the fund? Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund and Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.

Answer 28

Context: At a recent meeting, the Punjab Chief Minister asked the Central government to be cautious on the contentious Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue, saying it has the potential to disturb the nation’s security. The meeting was convened following the Supreme Court’s direction to the Centre on July 28 to mediate between the two States to resolve the issue.

Answer 29

Pakistan has been making continuous attempts to foment trouble and to try and revive the separatist movement through the banned Sikhs for Justice organisation. The water issue could further destabilise the State.

Answer 30

Suitable amendments should be made to the proposed Inter State River Water Disputes Act to set up a new tribunal, to ensure that Punjab gets adequate water “in a just and equitable manner in keeping with its total demand and securing livelihood of the future generations.”

Answer 31

Historical background: The creation of Haryana from the old (undivided) Punjab in 1966 threw up the problem of giving Haryana its share of river waters. Punjab was opposed to sharing waters of the Ravi and Beaswith Haryana, citing riparian principles, and arguing that it had no water to spare. However, Centre, in 1976, issued a notification allocating to Haryana 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) out of undivided Punjab’s 7.2 MAF. The Eradi Tribunal headed by Supreme Court Judge V Balakrishna Eradi was set up to reassess availability and sharing of water. The Tribunal, in 1987, recommended an increase in the shares of Punjab and Haryana to 5 MAF and 3.83 MAF, respectively. The canal: To enable Haryana to use its share of the waters of the Sutlej and its tributary Beas, a canal linking the Sutlej with the Yamuna, cutting across the state, was planned. A tripartite agreement was also negotiated between Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan in this regard. The Satluj Yamuna Link Canal is a proposed 214-kilometer long canal to connect the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. However, the proposal met obstacles and was referred to the Supreme Court.

Answer 32

Haryana has been seeking the completion of the SYL canal to get its share of 3.5 million acre-feet of river waters. It has maintained that Punjab should comply with the 2002 and 2004 Supreme Court orders in this regard. Haryana is getting 1.62 million acre-feet of the Ravi-Beas waters.

Answer 33

Context: The Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 has been released. What is it? Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) is an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) (Now, it is the Ministry of Education), Govt. of India to systematically rank all major higher educational institutions and universities in India.

Answer 34

Programs and Activities on IPR, Innovation, Start-up and Entrepreneurship. Pre Incubation & Incubation Infrastructure & Facilities to Support I&E. Annual Budget Spent on Promoting and Supporting I&E Activities. Courses on Innovation, IPR and Entrepreneurship Development. Intellectual Property (IP), Technology Transfer and Commercialization. Successful Innovation and Start-ups & Funding Innovation & start-ups.

Answer 35

Publicly Funded Institutions: Sub Categories: Institute of National Importance, Central Universities and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes. State University & Deemed Universities (Government & Government. Aided) Government and Government/Aided College/Institutes. Private or Self- Financed Institutions: Sub categories: Private or Self- Financed Universities. Private or Self- Financed College/Institutes. For the first time, ARIIA 2020 has a special prize category for women only higher educational institutions. This will be the 6th sub- category.

Answer 36

IIT Madras under the category of Institutes of National Importance, Central Universities, and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes; Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai got the top position under Government and Government Aided Universities; College of Engineering, Pune under Government and Government Aided Colleges; Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar under Private or Self-Financed Universities. S R Engineering College, Warangal under Private or Self-Financed Colleges. Avinashilingam Institute For Home Science And Higher Education For Women, Tamil Nadu got the first rank in Higher Educational Institutions Exclusively for Women.

Answer 37

Context: The report was released recently. The index is prepared by Surfshark, a virtual private network (VPN) provider based in the British Virgin Islands. It seeks to rank countries on internet affordability and quality, and electronic infrastructure, security and government. All parameters have equal weightage.

Answer 38

Top 3: Scandinavian countries Denmark and Sweden topped the index, with Canada rounding up the top three. Israel offered the cheapest internet — calculated by considering how much time one must work to be able to afford the cheapest mobile internet and broadband. Of the total countries, 75% of them have to work more than the global average to afford the internet. Singapore, the UK and the US performed the best on the e-government indicator — arrived at by checking the state of government’s online presence and readiness to employ artificial intelligence technology and help “minimise bureaucracy, reduce corruption and increase transparency of the public sector”. The UK, France and Lithuania offer the most security — cybersecurity and status of personal data protection. Best Internet Quality- Singapore, Sweden and the Netherlands. The UAE, Sweden and Denmark have the most developed e-infrastructure.

Answer 39

Of 85 countries, India ranked 9th on the internet affordability indicator, and 15th on e-government. Overall, India is ranked 57th. Internet cost- India scored the best on this parameter, leading countries like the UK, US and China. e-government indicator- India secured 15th position on this, ahead of the Netherlands, China and Belgium. Security- India performed poorly here, standing at 57th position. Internet quality- With a rank of 78, it fell behind countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria and the Philippines. On electronic infrastructure — focusing on active internet users and information and communications technology adoption rate — India ranked 79th, behind neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Answer 40

Context: As per the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE): Since 2015, of the 49 blocks cleared for coal mining, 9 were in ‘No-Go’ areas, or regions that were once classified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change as containing very dense forests and hence closed to coal mining. In 2020, of the 41 blocks put up for auction, 21 feature in the original No-Go list. Currently India is not utilising its existing capacity fully: 67% of the mines auctioned since 2015 are were not operational yet. What’s the issue? The environment ministry‘s ban on mining in areas of thick forest cover has locked away millions of tonnes of coal reserves. According to the power ministry, coal shortage is likely to hold up new power projects of over 17,000 mw aggregate capacity. This has triggered debate among the ministries of coal, power and steel on the ‘Go, No-Go’ concept’s merits.

Answer 41

In 2009, the environment and coal ministries had jointly placed the country’s forested areas under two categories – Go and No-Go – and imposed a ban on mining in the ‘No-Go’ zones on environmental grounds. ‘No Go’ areas are those having either more than 10 per cent weighted forest cover (WFC) or more than 30 per cent gross forest cover (GFC).

Answer 42

The exercise is aimed at prioritising forest areas under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Besides, Diversion of forest land for coal mining in these areas, which are rich in flora and fauna, will have “avoidable serious adverse impact on forests and wildlife”. If mining were to continue, even with afforestation and reclamation, it would not be possible to restore the regions biodiversity.

Answer 43

The concept has no legal standing– They are mandated neither under Forest Conservation Rules, 2003 nor under any circular issued by the ministry of environment and forests.

Answer 44

All India Institute of Ayurveda under Ministry of AYUSH and Delhi Police have jointly launched ‘AYURAKSHA’ for police personnel. Ayurveda medicines will be provided to nearly 80000 personnel of Delhi Police.

Answer 45

Mysuru zoo has received three Cheetahs from Ann Van Dyke Cheetah Centre, South Africa. Mysuru is the second zoo to house hunting cheetah in India. Hyderabad zoo has a pair of big cats. About Cheetah: The cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus,is one of the oldest of the big cat species, with ancestors that can be traced back more than five million years to the Miocene era. The cheetah is also the world’s fastest land mammal. It is listed as vulnerablein IUCN red listed species. It was declared extinct in India in 1952. The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” speciesby the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.

Answer 46

Indian Railways has started deploying “Ninja UAVs” (unmanned aerial vehicles) for establishing a drone-based surveillance system in a bid to intensify its security mechanism across its network. A drone camera can cover a large area, which may require up 10 RPF personnel. The exercise may lead to a substantial improvement in utilisation of scarce manpower, said a note on drone surveillance issued by the ministry.

Answer 47

Supreme Court collegium elevates 6 advocates as Delhi High Court judges. The criteria for appointment of a person as Judge of High Court are provided under Article 217 of Constitution, which are: – has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India; or has for at least ten years been an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession. Appointment: On approval by the Supreme Court Collegium, the names of the proposed candidates will be sent to the Ministry of Law & Justice, which will send the names to the President of India. The President under his sign and seal would issue the warrant of appointment.

Answer 48

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that government jobs in the State would now be reserved for its youth only. Necessary legal provisions will be introduced shortly.

Answer 49

Context: The Odisha government has announced to give a facelift to the 11th century Lingaraj Temple, akin to its pre-350-year structural status. The efforts will be to create a spiritual and ecological ambience in and around the Lingaraj Temple. About Lingaraja Temple is a temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest and largest temples in Odisha. Built by king Jajati Keshari of Soma Vansh. It is built in red stone and is a classic example of Kalinga style of architecture. Located to the north of the temple is Bindusagar Lake. The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers. The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath sect emanating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.

Answer 50

The temple is Lingaraj Temple built in the Deula style that has four components namely, vimana (structure containing the sanctum), jagamohana (assembly hall), natamandira (festival hall) and bhoga-mandapa (hall of offerings), each increasing in the height to its predecessor.

Answer 51

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court held Prashant Bhushan guilty of criminal contempt of court for his tweets against the CJI S.A. Bobde and against the judiciary. Now, Prashant Bhushan has asked the Court to defer the punishment till the review petition is filed and decided. He also submitted that the remedy of curative petition is also available. About Curative Petition: The concept was first evolved by the Supreme Court of India in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and another case (2002) on the question whether an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgement/order of the Supreme Court, even after the dismissal of a review petition. The court used the Latin maxim “actus curiae neminem gravabit”,which means that an act of the court shall prejudice no one. It’s objectives are twofolds- avoid miscarriage of justice and to prevent abuse of process.

Answer 52

The concept of the curative petition is supported by Article 137 of the Indian Constitution. It provides that in the matter of laws and rules made under Article 145, the Supreme Court has the power to review any judgement pronounced (or order made) by it.

Answer 53

A curative petition may be filed after a review plea against the final conviction is dismissed. It can be entertained if the petitioner establishes that there was a violation of the principles of natural justice, and that he was not heard by the court before passing an order. It must be rare rather than regular. A curative petition must be first circulated to a Bench of the three senior-most judges, and the judges who passed the concerned judgment, if available. Only when a majority of the judges conclude that the matter needs hearing should it be listed before the same Bench. The Bench at any stage of consideration of the curative petition can ask a senior counsel to assist it as amicus curiae (Friend of the court). A curative petition is usually decided by judges in the chamber unless a specific request for an open-court hearing is allowed.

Answer 54

Context: The Madhya Pradesh government’s recent decision to reserve all government jobs for “children of the state” raises questions relating to the fundamental right to equality. What’s the issue now? Reservation solely based on place of birth would raise constitutional questions.

Answer 55

Article 16 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal treatment under law in matters of public employment, prohibits the state from discriminating on grounds of place of birth or residence. Article 16(2) states that “no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State”. The provision is supplemented by the other clauses in the Constitution that guarantee equality.

Answer 56

However, Article 16(3) of the Constitution provides an exception by saying that Parliament may make a law “prescribing” a requirement of residence for jobs in a particular state. This power vests solely in the Parliament, not state legislatures.

Answer 57

When the Constitution came into force, India turned itself into one nation from a geographical unit of individual principalities and the idea of the universality of Indian citizenship took root. As India has common citizenship, which gives citizens the liberty to move around freely in any part of the country, the requirement of a place of birth or residence cannot be qualifications for granting public employment in any state.

Answer 58

The Supreme Court has ruled against reservation based on place of birth or residence. In 1984, ruling in Dr Pradeep Jain v Union of India, the issue of legislation for “sons of the soil” was discussed. The court expressed an opinion that such policies would be unconstitutional but did not expressly rule on it as the case was on different aspects of the right to equality. In a subsequent ruling in Sunanda Reddy v State of Andhra Pradesh (1995), the Supreme Court affirmed the observation in Pradeep Jain to strike down a state government policy that gave 5% extra weightage to candidates who had studied with Telugu as the medium of instruction. In 2002, the Supreme Court invalidated appointment of government teachers in Rajasthan in which the state selection board gave preference to “applicants belonging to the district or the rural areas of the district concerned”. In 2019, the Allahabad High Court struck down a recruitment notification by the UP Subordinate Service Selection Commission which prescribed preference for women who are “original residents” of the UP alone.

Answer 59

Exercising the powers it has under Article 16(3), Parliament enacted the Public Employment (Requirement as to Residence) Act, aimed at abolishing all existing residence requirements in the states and enacting exceptions only in the case of the special instances of Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh. Constitutionally, some states also have special protections under Article 371. Andhra Pradesh under Section 371(d) has powers to have “direct recruitment of local cadre” in specified areas. In Uttarakhand, class III and class IV jobs are reserved for locals.

Answer 60

States that conduct official business in their regional languages prescribe knowledge of the language as a criterion. This ensures that local citizens are preferred for jobs. For example, states including Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu require a language test.

Answer 61

Context: The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of National Recruitment Agency, an independent body to conduct examination for government jobs. Initially, it will organise a CET to screen/shortlist candidates for the Group B and C (non -technical) posts, which are now being conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railways Recruitment Board (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). Later on, more exams may be brought under it.

Answer 62

The setting up of such an agency to conduct a common eligibility test (CET) was announced in the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February.

Answer 63

It will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India. It will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.

Answer 64

It will conduct a common preliminary examination for various recruitments in the central government. Based on the common eligibility test (CET) score a candidate can apply for a vacancy with the respective agency.

Answer 65

The Common Eligibility Test will be held twice a year. The test will be conducted for three levels: graduate, higher secondary (12th pass) and the matriculate (10th pass) candidates. However, the present recruitment agencies– IBPS, RRB and SCC — will remain in place. Based on the screening done at the CET score level, final selection for recruitment shall be made through separate specialised Tiers (II, III, etc.) of examination which shall be conducted by the respective recruitment agencies.

Answer 66

The CET score of a candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result. To make it easier for candidates, examination centres would be set up in every district of the country. While there will be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET, it will be subject to the upper age limit. The examinations will be conducted in 12 languages.

Answer 67

As of now, aspirants have to take different exams that are conducted by various agencies for central government jobs. Candidates have to pay fees to multiple recruiting agencies and also travel long distances for appearing in various exams. On an average 2.5 crore to 3 crore aspirants appear for about 1.25 lakh vacancies in the central government every year.

Answer 68

Context: Even before the end of final stage human trials or regulatory approval, several wealthier countries like Britain, France, Germany and the US have entered into pre-purchase agreements with Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, a development that has come to be known as “vaccine nationalism”. There are fears that such advance agreements will make the initial few vaccines unaffordable and inaccessible to everyone apart from the rich countries in a world of roughly 8 billion people.

Answer 69

Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries. This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.

Answer 70

Vaccine nationalism is not new. During the early stages of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, some of the wealthiest countries entered into pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies working on H1N1 vaccines. At that time, it was estimated that, in the best-case scenario, the maximum number of vaccine doses that could be produced globally was two billion. The US alone negotiated and obtained the right to buy 600,000 doses. All the countries that negotiated pre-purchase orders were developed economies.

Answer 71

Vaccine nationalism is harmful for equitable access to vaccines. It further disadvantages countries with fewer resources and bargaining power. It deprives populations in the Global South from timely access to vital public health goods. Taken to its extreme, it allocates vaccines to moderately at-risk populations in wealthy countries over populations at higher risk in developing economies.

Answer 72

International institutions — including the WHO — should coordinate negotiations ahead of the next pandemic to produce a framework for equitable access to vaccines during public health crises. Equity entails both, affordability of vaccines and access opportunities for populations across the world, irrespective of geography and geopolitics.

Answer 73

To bring about equitable and broad access, WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Gavi have come up with an initiative known as “Covax Facility”. The facility aims to procure at least two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of next year for deployment and distribution mainly in the low- and middle-income countries.

Answer 74

Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be leased out through Public Private Partnership (PPP) to Adani Enterprises Ltd. The lease is for a period of fifty years.

Answer 75

Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist political organization and militant group that has waged war on Israel since the group’s 1987 founding, most notably through suicide bombings and rocket attacks. It seeks to replace Israel with a Palestinian state. It also governs Gaza independently of the Palestinian Authority.

Answer 76

Context: Millennium Alliance Round 6 & COVID19 Innovation Challenge-Award Ceremony was recently held. 49 innovations in 5 focus areas were recognised. What is Millennium Alliance? It is an innovation-driven and impact-focused initiative leveraging collaborative resources to identify test and scale Indian innovations that address global development solutions. It is a consortium of partners (Public-Private Partnership) including the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), Facebook and Marico Innovation Foundation.

Answer 77

Context: Science and Technology Indicators (STI), 2018 is a periodic compendium of the state of scientific research in India. It was released recently. Who prepares the report? The STI is prepared by National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS), a division of Department of Science and Technology (DST). It is based on data provided by a range of scientific establishments across the country.

Answer 78

India’s private sector research companies appear to employ a larger proportion of women in core research and development activities than government-funded major scientific agencies do. The 2018 indicators reiterate the historic trend of India’s scientists being overwhelmingly men.

Answer 79

On the whole, private sector companies had a greater commitment to ensuring that women scientists were fairly represented in recruitment, promotions and appraisal processes than in many scientific organisations. The large drop in the number of women between the doctoral and professional stages appears to be due to: Social pressure on women to have a family which is seen as incompatible with a professional career. Patriarchal attitudes in hiring practices, so many women are discriminated against at this stage as well, with administrators deciding that women ‘should’ be opting for family over a career.

Answer 80

Context: Swachh Survekshan 2020 report was recently released by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. Swachh Survekshan 2020 covered 4,242 cities, 62 cantonment boards and 92 Ganga towns. This survey was carried out in 28 days. This year the Ministry has released rankings based on the categorisation of cities on population, instead of releasing overall rankings.

Answer 81

Indore was ranked the cleanest city in the overall category this year followed by Surat and Navi Mumbai. Chhattisgarh is the cleanest state in the category of states with more than 100 urban local bodies (ULBs). Ahmedabad is India’s the cleanest Mega city. New Delhi is the cleanest capital city. Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur is the cleanest smallest city. Bengaluru wins the Best Self Sustainability award in the Mega city category. Jharkhand is the cleanest state in the category of state with less than 100 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Cleanest Cantonment: Jalandhar Cantt, Punjab. Cleanest Town along the banks of river Ganga: In cities with population less than one lakh, Karad in Mahrashtra is cleanest city. Maximum citizen participation in keeping city areas clean – Shahjahanpur. Cleanest megacity with more than 40 lac population – Ahmedabad (Gujarat). Fastest-moving city in terms of cleanliness – Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Self-sustainable city in terms of cleanliness (more than 10 lakh population) – Rajkot (Gujarat). Mysuru (Karnataka) is ranked cleanest among the medium-sized cities with a population ranging between 3 lakh and 10 lakh.

Answer 82

Launched by PM Modi in 2016. It is meant to monitor the performance of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which was launched on October 2, 2014, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It was also aimed at inculcating a spirit of healthy competition among cities towards becoming India’s cleanest cities.

Answer 83

The Quality Council of India (QCI) is in charge of evaluating the performance of the participating cities. This is an autonomous accreditation body which was set up by the Government of India in 1997 for quality assurance in all fields, including governance.

Answer 84

Context: The parliamentary standing committee on Information Technology has summoned Facebook on September 2 to discuss the issue of alleged misuse of social media platforms in the wake of claims that the US firm did not apply hate-speech rules to certain BJP politicians. What are Parliamentary Committees? The Lok Sabha website describes a parliamentary committee as a “committee which is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker and which works under the direction of the Speaker and presents its report to the House or to the Speaker and the Secretariat”.

Answer 85

‘Standing’committees: Their existence is uninterrupted and usually reconstituted on an annual basis. They are further divided into financial committees and departmentally-related standing committees (DRSCs). Finance committees are considered to be particularly powerful. The three financial committees are the Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings. ‘Select’ committees formed for a specific purpose, for instance, to deliberate on a particular bill. Once the Bill is disposed of, that select committee ceases to exist.

Answer 86

Until the 13th Lok Sabha, each DRSC comprised 45 members — 30 nominated from Lok Sabha and 15 from the Rajya Sabha. However, with their restructuring in July 2004, each DRSC now has 31 members — 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha, to be nominated by Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman, respectively. They are appointed for a maximum period of one year and the committees are reconstituted every year cutting across party lines.

Answer 87

The estimates committee has 30 members, all from the Lok Sabha. Both the public accounts committee and the committee on public undertakings have 22 members each — 15 elected from the Lok Sabha and seven from the Rajya Sabha.

Answer 88

Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Answer 89

Committee reports are usually exhaustive and provide authentic information on matters related to governance. Bills that are referred to committees are returned to the House with significant value addition. However, Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.

Answer 90

Context: Over the last two months, Serosurveys have been conducted in various cities across the country including Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Pune. These serosurvey results suggest Covid-19 is far more widespread than virus tests show. Key findings: In Pune, more than 51%of those who were tested showed the presence of antibodies specific to the novel coronavirus, suggesting that about half the population of this city of 4 million could have already been infected. An earlier exercise in Delhi had suggested that the actual spread could be 40 times the number of confirmed cases. As per the second survey, 29% of Delhi has antibodies for Covid-19. In Mumbai, about 40 per cent of the sampled group was found to be infected.

Answer 91

More Asymptomatic cases: These numbers confirm the general impression that most SARS-CoV2 infections are asymptomatic (some estimates say approximately 80 per cent are asymptomatic). Of course, the virus could be spreading from asymptomatically infected people too, especially within families. Inadequate tests: From a capacity to test just a few hundred samples at the start of the outbreak in March to more than eight lakh tests a day now, there has been a massive upgrade in the testing infrastructure. And yet, the serological tests show that a vast majority of the infected people are still being missed out, particularly those who are not showing symptoms.

Answer 92

Scientists warn against interpreting these results as an indication of the percentage of population that might have become immune to the disease. The serological surveys are not designed to detect neutralising or “protective” antibodies in human beings. All antibodies are not protective. It is only the neutralising antibodies that can make a person immune to the disease. Besides, Scientists still do not know the level of infection in the population at which “herd immunity” would start to play a role.

Answer 93

Adequate testing is crucial to containment strategies. It is the only method to identify, and isolate, infected people and their close contacts. The more the tests, the greater the chance of detecting infected people, including those who are asymptomatic. Timely isolation of these can prevent transmission to other people. A higher number of tests, therefore, has a direct bearing on slowing down the spread of the disease.

Answer 94

The serological survey is one that involves collecting blood samples to: Determine whether a person is infected with the novel coronavirus. Detect whether the person was infected with the said virus in the past. Identify antibodies being produced to combat COVID-19.

Answer 95

Context: The Reserve Bank of India has released a national strategy for financial education to be implemented in the next five years. The multi-stakeholder led approach is aimed at creating a financially aware and empowered India. It is the second NSFE , the first one being released in 2013.

Answer 96

The objectives include managing risk at various life stages through relevant and suitable insurance cover besides planning for old age and retirement through coverage of suitable pension products.

Answer 97

The NSFE has been put together by the National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with the four financial sector regulators (Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) and other relevant stakeholders.

Answer 98

Adopt a ‘5 C’ – Content, Capacity, Community, Communication and Collaboration – approach to achieve the financial well-being of all Indians. It has suggested financial literacy content for school children (including curriculum and co-scholastic), teachers, young adults, women, new entrants at workplace/ entrepreneurs (MSMEs), senior citizens, persons with disabilities, illiterate people, etc. Capacity development of various intermediaries, who can be involved in providing financial literacy. Develop a ‘Code of Conduct’ for financial education providers. Community-led approaches should be evolved for disseminating financial literacy in a sustainable manner. A specific period in the year needs to be identified to disseminate financial literacy messages on a large/ focused scale. Integrate financial education content in the school curriculum, various professional and vocational courses (undertaken by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) through their Sector Skilling Missions and B.Ed./M.Ed. programmes. Adopt a robust ‘Monitoring and Evaluation Framework’ to assess progress made under the strategy.

Answer 99

The strategy seeks to develop credit discipline and encourage availing of credit from formal financial institutions as per requirement. It wants to improve usage of digital financial services in a safe and secure manner. The document wants management of risk at various life stages through relevant and suitable insurance cover and plan for old age and retirement through coverage of suitable pension products.

Answer 100

National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) is a Not for Profit Company promoted by Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

Answer 101

It is Kerala government’s unique programme of teaching tribal children in their mother tongue. Implemented by the Samagra Siksha Kerala (SSK). The SSK has distributed some 50 laptops exclusively for Namath Basai. Pre-recorded classes are offered through a YouTube channel. It has succeeded in retaining hundreds of tribal children in their online classes by making them feel at home with the language of instruction.

Answer 102

Context: Trifood Project of TRIFED launched in Raigad, Maharashtra and Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh. Details of the project: Being implemented by TRIFED, Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with Ministry of Food Processing (MoFPI). Aims to enhance the income of tribals through better utilization of and value addition to the MFPs collected by the tribal forest gatherers. How? To achieve this, as a start, two Minor Forest Produce (MFP) processing units will be set up.

Answer 103

Context: In pursuance of clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution, the President has appointed Rajiv Kumar, IAS(Retd.) as the Election Commissioner. About Election commission of India: The constitution under article 324 provides for an Election Commission for the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for the conduct of elections to parliament, state legislatures and to the offices of president and vice president.

Answer 104

The constitution provides for the following provisions in relation to the composition of the election commission: The election commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and a such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix. The appointment of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners shall be made by the president. When any other election commissioner is so appointed the chief election commissioner shall act as the chairman of the election commission. The president may also appoint after consultation with the election commission such regional commissioners as he may consider necessary to assist the election commission. The conditions of service and tenure of office of the election commissioners and the regional commissioners shall be such as the President may by rule determine.

Answer 105

Though the Chief Election Commissioner is the chairman of the election commission, however, his powers are equal to the other election commissioners. All the matters in the commission are decided by the majority amongst its members. The Chief Election Commissioner and the two other election commissioners receive equal salary, allowances and other benefits.

Answer 106

The Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners hold office for 6 years or till they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They can resign at any time by addressing their resignation to the president.

Answer 107

They can resign anytime or can also be removed before the expiry of their term. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from his office in the same manner and on same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Answer 108

Context: In his first address to the newly elected Parliament, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared his intention to repeal the landmark 19th Amendment to the Constitution, and, thereafter, to work towards a new Constitution. Why? The Rajapaksa camp viewed the 19th Amendment’s clauses as primarily intending to prevent its leaders’ return to power.

Answer 109

Introduced in 2015. The legislation envisages the dilution of many powers of Executive Presidency, which had been in force since 1978. It involves: The reduction in the terms of President and Parliament from six years to five years. Re-introduction of a two-term limit that a person can have as President. The power of President to dissolve Parliament only after four and a half years. The revival of Constitutional Council and the establishment of independent commissions. The President remains the head of Cabinet and he can appoint Ministers on the advice of Prime Minister.

Answer 110

It mainly sought to weaken the power of the presidency which the 18th amendment had greatly expanded. The 18th amendment allowed four basic changes: The President can seek re-election any number of times; The ten-member Constitutional Council has been replaced with a five-member Parliamentary Council; Independent commissions are brought under the authority of the President; and, It enables the President to attend Parliament once in three months and entitles him to all the privileges, immunities, and powers of a Member of Parliament other than the entitlement to vote. The 19th amendment counterbalanced many of these decisions and restored components of the 17th amendment.

Answer 111

Why in News? Relaxation in eligibility criteria and enhancement in the payment of unemployment benefits under the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana of ESIC. About Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana: Launched by the Employee’s State Insurance (ESI) in 2018. Aim: It aims to financially support those who lost their jobs or rendered jobless for whatsoever reasons due to changing employment pattern.

Answer 112

Eligibility criteria for availing the relief has been relaxed, as under: The payment of relief has been enhanced to 50% of average of wages from earlier 25% of average wages payable upto maximum 90 days of unemployment. Instead of the relief becoming payable 90 days after unemployment, it shall become due for payment after 30 days. The Insured Person can submit the claim directly to ESIC Branch Office instead of the claim being forwarded by the last employer and the payment shall be made directly in the bank account of IP. The Insured Person should have been insurable employment for a minimum period of 2 years before his/her unemployment and should have contributed for not les than 78 days in the contribution period immediately preceding to unemployment and minimum 78 days in one of the remaining 3 contribution periods in 02 years prior to unemployment.

Answer 113

Why in News? PMEGP projects records 44% implementation jump. About Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme: PMEGP is a central sector scheme administered by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME). Launched in 2008-09, it is a credit-linked subsidy scheme which promotes self-employment through setting up of micro-enterprises, where subsidy up to 35% is provided by the Government through Ministry of MSME for loans up to ₹25 lakhs in manufacturing and ₹10 lakhs in the service sector.

Answer 114

National Level- Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) as the nodal agency. State Level- State KVIC Directorates, State Khadi and Village Industries Boards (KVIBs), District Industries Centres (DICs) and banks.

Answer 115

Any individual above 18 years of age, Self Help Groups, Institutions registered under Societies Registration Act 1860, Production Co-operative Societies and Charitable Trusts are eligible. Existing Units and the units that have already availed Government Subsidy under any other scheme of Government of India or State Government are not eligible. Only new projects are considered for sanction under PMEGP.

Answer 116

Context: Investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the domestic capital market soared to Rs 63,288 crore till July-end, making it the fourth consecutive monthly rise. Of the total money invested through the route till July, Rs 52,356 crore was invested in equities, Rs 10,429 crore in debt, Rs 250 crore in the hybrid securities and Rs 190 crore in derivatives segment. What are Participatory Notes? Participatory Notes or P-Notes (PNs) are financial instruments issued by a registered foreign institutional investor (FII) to an overseas investor who wishes to invest in Indian stock markets without registering themselves with the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Key points: P-Notes are Offshore Derivative Investments (ODIs) with equity shares or debt securities as underlying assets. They provide liquidity to the investors as they can transfer the ownership by endorsement and delivery. While the FIIs have to report all such investments each quarter to SEBI, they need not disclose the identity of the actual investors.

Answer 117

The primary reason why P-Notes are worrying is because of the anonymous nature of the instrument as these investors could be beyond the reach of Indian regulators. Further, there is a view that it is being used in money laundering with wealthy Indians, like the promoters of companies, using it to bring back unaccounted funds and to manipulate their stock prices.

Answer 118

What is it? It is the first-ever State Dragonfly Festival in Kerala. World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF–India) State unit has joined hands with the Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) and Thumbipuranam for the festival. Official mascot of the festival: Pantalu.

Answer 119

This is part of a national dragonfly festival being organised by the WWF India, Bombay Natural History Society & Indian Dragonfly Society in association with the National Biodiversity Board, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme and IUCN – Centre for Environment Conservation. The Dragonfly Festival started in 2018 to educate and inform the public about the integral role that dragonflies, and their lesser known siblings damselflies, play in our environment.

Answer 120

It is an international non-governmental organization. Founded in 1961 Headquarter — Gland (Switzerland). Aim: wilderness preservation & the reduction of human impact on the environment. Reports & programmes: Living Planet Report— published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation. Earth hour – a worldwide movement organized by WWF annually, encouraging individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on a specific day towards the end of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet. Debt-for-nature swaps–financial transactions in which a portion of a developing nation’s foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental conservation measures. Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) — independent non-profit organization which sets a standard for sustainable fishing. Healthy GrownPotato — eco-brand that provides high-quality, sustainably grown, packaged, and shipped potatoes to consumers by leveraging integrated pest management (IPM) farming practices on large scale farms.

Answer 121

Context: Orissa High Court has issued notice to the state government over appointment of bureaucrats as chairman and member secretary of the State pollution control board for the past 10 years. What’s the issue? A social activist had moved the HC drawing attention that: As per the Section 4 of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and Sec 5 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) 1981, there is provision for appointment of full time member secretary and nomination of full time or part time chairman by the State government. But, for last more than 10 years, the posts of OSPCB are filled up from the cadres of IAS and IFS respectively without adhering to any selection procedure”. The same is the case in many other States. A case was also filed in the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi, since the posts require scientific and engineering or management qualification and experience. The NGT made a similar observation in its 2016 order. In September 2017, the Supreme Court had directed the State governments to formulate policy regarding the qualification and experience for these posts within six months.

Answer 122

They are constitutes in pursuance of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. After the enactment of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, the enforcing responsibility was entrusted to these Boards. Composition and selection of members: The members of State Pollution Control Boards are nominated by respective State Governments. Apart from the above said Acts, the Board is also enforcing the following Rule and Notifications framed under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006. Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016. Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. The Noise Pollution (Regulation & Control) Rules, 2000. Construction & Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016 The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991. Fly Ash Notification, 1999 and 2008.

Answer 123

It is located in Turkey. Built in 534 AD, during the early Byzantine period. Why in News? Turkish President has issued a decree to open this Orthodox church that was previously a popular Istanbul museum to Muslim worship upon a court order. Background: The decision to transform the Kariye (Chora) Museum into a mosque came just a month after a similar conversion of the UNESCO World Heritage-recognized Hagia Sophia.

Answer 124

It is a mobile app launched recently by the National Highway Authority of India. It will monitor plantation along national highways. The app will monitor location, growth, species details, maintenance activities, targets and achievements of each of the NHAI’s field units for each and every plant under all plantation projects.

Answer 125

Context: Defence Ministry approves major expansion of NCC. Changes: From the 173 coastal and border districts, one lakh cadets, a third of them girls, will be trained. The Army will provide training and administrative support to the NCC units located in the border areas, Navy to the units in the coastal areas andIndian Air Force to the units close to Air Force stations. Significance: It will provide trained manpower for disaster management and skill training to youth for making their career in the armed forces.

Answer 126

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the Centre will decide on the recommendations of a committee set up to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women. The minimum age of marriage, especially for women, has been a contentious issue. Background: The Union Ministry for Women and Child Development set up a committee in June, headed by Jaya Jaitley, to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women. It will examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being, and nutritional status of the mother and neonate, infant or child, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter.

Answer 127

Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 and 18 years for men and women, respectively. The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority, which is gender-neutral. An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875. For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom. Child marriages are not illegal but can be declared void at the request of the minor in the marriage. In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid under personal law. The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.

Answer 128

From bringing in gender-neutrality to reduce the risks of early pregnancy among women, there are many arguments in favour of increasing the minimum age of marriage of women. Early pregnancy is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of the mother. Despite laws mandating minimum age and criminalising sexual intercourse with a minor, child marriages are very prevalent in the country. Also, according to a study, children born to adolescent mothers (10-19 years) were 5 percentage points more likely to be stunted (shorter for their age) than those born to young adults (20-24 years).

Answer 129

Context: In his address to the nation on Independence Day, the PM has launched the National Digital Health Mission which rolls out a national health ID for every Indian. The scheme will be rolled out through a pilot launch in the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. What is the National Digital Health Mission? It is a digital health ecosystem under which every Indian citizen will now have unique health IDs, digitised health records with identifiers for doctors and health facilities. The Mission is expected to bring efficiency and transparency in healthcare services in the country. The new scheme will come under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

Answer 130

It comprises six key building blocks — HealthID, DigiDoctor, Health Facility Registry, Personal Health Records, e-Pharmacy and Telemedicine. The National Health Authority has been given the mandate to design, build, roll-out and implement the mission in the country. The core building blocks of the mission is that the health ID, DigiDoctor and Health Facility Registry shall be owned, operated and maintained by the Government of India. Private stakeholders will have an equal opportunity to integrate and create their own products for the market. The core activities and verifications, however, remain with the government. Under the Mission, every Indian will get a Health ID card that will store all medical details of the person including prescriptions, treatment, diagnostic reports and discharge summaries. The citizens will be able to give their doctors and health providers one-time access to this data during visits to the hospital for consultation.

Answer 131

The mission aims to liberate citizens from the challenges of finding the right doctors, seeking appointment, payment of consultation fee, making several rounds of hospitals for prescription sheets, among several others and will empower people to make an informed decision to avail the best possible healthcare. Background: The ambitious National Digital Health Mission finds its roots in a 2018 Niti Aayog proposal to create a centralised mechanism to uniquely identify every participating user in the National Health Stack.

Answer 132

In 2005, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) started deployment of an electronic health record systems with a goal to have all patients with a centralised electronic health record by 2010. While several hospitals acquired electronic patient records systems as part of this process, there was no national healthcare information exchange. The program was ultimately dismantled after a cost to the UK taxpayer was more than £12 billion, and is considered one of the most expensive healthcare IT failures.

Answer 133

Context: India and Bangladesh have been engaged in a long-standing dispute over water-sharing in the Teesta. Adding to the existing tensions, Bangladesh is now discussing an almost $1 billion loan from China for a comprehensive management and restoration project on the Teesta river. Why India is concerned and worried? Bangladesh’s discussions with China come at a time when India is particularly wary about China following the standoff in Ladakh.

Answer 134

China is the biggest trading partner of Bangladesh and is the foremost source of imports. Recently, China declared zero duty on 97% of imports from Bangladesh. The concession flowed from China’s duty-free, quota-free programme for the Least Developed Countries. China is the biggest arms supplier to Bangladesh.

Answer 135

Teesta river is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing through India and Bangladesh. It originates in the Himalayas near Chunthang, Sikkimand flows to the south through West Bengal before entering Bangladesh. The Teesta Barrage dam helps to provide irrigation for the plains between the upper Padma and the Jamuna.

Answer 136

Negotiations on how to share the water have been going on since 1983. A 2011 interim deal – that was supposed to last 15 years – gave India 42.5 percent of the Teesta’s waters and gave Bangladesh 37.5 percent. Bengal opposed this deal so it was shelved and remains unsigned. Bangladesh sought a fair and equitable distribution of Teesta waters from India, on the lines of the Ganga Water Treaty 1996. The treaty is an agreement to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border. In 2015, the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka generated expectations to take forward the issue but it still remains unresolved. However, In India, individual states have significant influence over transboundary agreements, impeding the policymaking process. West Bengalis one of the key stakeholders of the Teesta agreement and is yet to endorse the deal.

Answer 137

For Bangladesh: Its flood plain covers about 14% of the total cropped area of Bangladesh and provides direct livelihood opportunities to approximately 73% of its population. For West Bengal: Teesta is the lifeline of North Bengal and almost half a dozen of districts of West Bengal are dependent on the waters of Teesta.

Answer 138

Context: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has allowed the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani after two companies promoted by him failed to pay dues on Rs 1,200 crore that they had borrowed from State Bank of India (SBI). The insolvency process will be initiated against Ambani as he had given personal guarantee against the loans provided to his firms. Personal insolvency: The case is significant as it is one of the first cases of insolvency against a major business group head. The rules for initiation of personal insolvency were notified last year in December.

Answer 139

As the NCLT has allowed the appointment of an interim resolution professional (IRP) in the matter, SBI will now approach the IRP with a list of the assets provided by Ambani as a personal guarantee when his companies had sought the loan. In the case of banks providing loans against personal guarantee, the guarantor has to furnish a list of assets whose value is equivalent to the total amount of loan being given. In case of failure to pay these assets, these guarantees can be invoked.

Answer 140

Like corporate insolvency processes, a businessperson is free to start with a clean slate after a personal insolvency case against them is over. The lenders will be eligible to recover their dues only from the collateral deposited or personal assets belonging to that person. However, any or all assets mentioned in the list provided at the time of sanctioning of the loan, even if transferred to someone else, can also be attached and sold. Ambani will be free to run other businesses which are not under insolvency, or which are able to service their debts and obligations on time.

Answer 141

Context: Department of Food &Public Distribution issues directions to States/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security Act 2013. It has also asked the states to ensure that they get their entitled quota of food grains under NFSA & Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Enabling provisions: Section 38 of the Act mandates that the Central Government may from time to time give directions to the State Governments for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act. The Section 10 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 provides for coverage of persons under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana in accordance with the guidelines applicable to the said scheme and the remaining households as priority households in accordance with such guidelines as the States Government may specify. Disability is one of the criteria for inclusion of beneficiaries under AAY households

Answer 142

The objective is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity. Key features: Coverage and entitlement under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS): The TDPS covers 50% of the urban population and 75% of the rural population, with uniform entitlement of 5 kg per person per month. However, the poorest of the poor households will continue to receive 35 kg per household per month under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). Subsidised prices under TPDS and their revision: For a period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act, Food grains under TPDS will be made available at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains. Identification of Households: The identification of eligible households is to be done by States/UTs under TDPS determined for each State. Nutritional Support to women and children: Children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years and pregnant women and lactating mothers will be entitled to meals as per prescribed nutritional norms under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) schemes. Malnourished children up to the age of 6 have been prescribed for higher nutritional norms. Maternity Benefit: Pregnant women and lactating mothers will also be receiving maternity benefit of Rs. 6,000. Women Empowerment: For the purpose of issuing of ration cards, eldest woman of the household of age 18 years or above is to be the head of the household. Grievance Redressal Mechanism: Grievance redressal mechanism available at the District and State levels. Cost of transportation & handling of food grains and FPS Dealers’ margin : the expenditure incurred by the state on transportation of food grains within the State, its handling and FPS dealers’ margin as per norms to be devised for this purpose and assistance to states will be provided by the Central Government to meet the above expenditure. Transparency and Accountability: In order to ensure transparency and accountability, provisions have been made for disclosure of records relating to PDS, social audits and setting up of Vigilance Committees. Food Security Allowance: In case of non-supply of entitled food grains or meals, there is a provision for food security allowance to entitled beneficiaries. Penalty: If the public servant or authority fails to comply with the relief recommended by the District Grievance Redressal Officer, penalty will be imposed by the State Food Commission according to the provision.

Answer 143

Context: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has prepared a draft standard for the supply system of piped drinking water– ‘Drinking water supply quality management system — requirements for piped drinking water supply service’. The draft has been prepared by the BIS’ Public Drinking Water Supply Services Sectional Committee. Highlights of the draft: It outlines the process of water supply, from raw water sources to household taps. It outlines the requirements for a water supplier or a water utility on how they should establish, operate, maintain and improve their piped drinking water supply service. It states that the water treatment process should be planned in such a manner that after treatment the drinking water should conform to the Indian Standard (IS) 10500 developed by the BIS. It contains guidelines for top management of the water utility, in terms of accountability and customer focus, establishing a quality policy for their service, monitoring the quality of water released to people, and conducting a water audit. It states that the concept of district metering area (DMA) should be adopted where possible. DMA is a concept for controlling leakages in the water network, which is essentially divided into a number of sectors, called the DMAs, and where flow meters are installed to detect leaks. It mentions that water should be sampled at the treatment plant every four hours against quality parameters. In the distribution system, the sampling should be done every eight hours at the water reservoirs. Random sampling should also be done at household levels.

Answer 144

The standard holds importance as it is expected to make the process of piped water supply more uniform, especially in rural and underdeveloped areas of the country where the system runs on various government orders and circulars.

Answer 145

It is a national level Non-Governmental organization established in the year 1978. The organiztion was formed with an Imperative to moderating the pace of population growth for a smoother course of development so as to ensure an overall improvement in the quality of life of the people and maintain a proper balance between population and development.

Answer 146

Nuakhai Juhar is the agricultural festival is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat. Nuakhai is a combination of two words signifies eating of new rice as ‘nua’ means new and ‘khai’ means eat. It is one of the most ancient festivals celebrated in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and areas of neighbouring states to welcome the new crop of the season. On this day, people worship food grain and prepare special meals. Farmers offer the first produce from their lands to Goddess Samaleswari, the famous ‘Mother Goddess’ of Sambalpur district of Odisha.

Answer 147

The Centre has constituted the national council for transgender persons. Composition: Headed by the Union social justice minister and comprising representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the community. The council is India’s first and formed under Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. The council has five main functions — advising the central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons; monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons; reviewing and coordinating the activities of all the departments; redressing grievances of transgender persons; and performing such other functions as prescribed by the Centre.

Answer 148

Flavonoids are a group of phytonutrients present in almost all vegetables and fruits. They, along with carotenoids, are responsible for the varied colours of fruits and vegetables. They are associated with health benefits being good antioxidants, having anti-inflammatory properties and also offer benefits for the immune system. Why in News? Recently, scientists from Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), found the first synthetic route for producing flavonoids molecules related to the treatment of tuberculosis and chikungunya.

Answer 149

Context: Ministry of Tourism recently organised the 50th webinar titled “Cultural heritage of Hyderabad”under DekhoApnaDesh series. What is DekhoApnaDesh series? The Ministry of Tourism is organizing the DekhoApnaDesh webinars with an objective to create awareness about and promote various tourism destinations of India – including the lesser known destinations and lesser known facets of popular destinations. It also promotes spirit of Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat. Note: Some important facts were mentioned in this PIB article. The facts mentioned are important for your Prelims as well as Mains.

Answer 150

Hyderabad is popularly known as the “City of Pearls” and the “City of Nizams”, and has been the centre of a vibrant historical legacy, ever since its inception by the QutubShahi dynasty. Muhammad QuliQutb Shahestablished Hyderabad in 1591 to extend the capital beyond the fortified Golconda. In 1687, the city was annexedby the Mughals. In 1724, Mughal governor NizamAsaf Jah I declared his sovereignty and founded the AsafJahi dynasty, also known as the Nizams. Hyderabad served as the imperial capital of the AsafJahis from 1769 to 1948.

Answer 151

Golconda Fort, Hyderabad: Built by the Kakatiya dynastyin the 13th century. Chowmahalla Palace: Once the seat of the AsafJahi Dynasty. It has bagged the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Merit Award for Culture Heritage Conservation. Charminar: The monument was erected when QuliQutab Shah shifted his capital from Golcondo to Hyderabad. Mecca Masjid: Completed by Aurangazeb in 1693.The bricks used here are believed to be from Mecca, and hence the name. Warangal Fort: This fort appears to have existed since at least the 12th century when it was the capital of the Kakatiya dynasty.

Answer 152

Context: The Supreme Court has issued notice on a plea filed by the State of Nagaland for a direction to its Lokayukta to cease exercising his powers and functions and transfer all his work to the Upa-Lokayukta. What’s the issue? The petition by the State asked the court to use its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to preserve the institutional integrity of the Lokayukta and ensure that a “fit, proper and competent person” occupies the office of the Lokayukta. What is Lokayukta? Lokayukta is an anti-corruption authority or ombudsman – an official appointed by the government to represent the interests of the public. Most importantly, it investigates allegations of corruption and mal-administration against public servants and is tasked with speedy redressal of public grievances.

Answer 153

The Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Late Morarji Desai in 1966 recommended the setting up of the institution of Lokayukta. The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, commonly known The Lokpal Act was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2013. It provides for the appointment of a Lokayukta “to investigate and report on allegations or grievances relating to the conduct of public servants.” It also called for establishment of Lokpal at the Centre.

Answer 154

The Lokayukta is usually a former High Court Chief Justice or former Supreme Court judge and has a fixed tenure. Selection of Lokayukta: The Chief Minister selects a person as the Lokayukta after consultation with the High Court Chief Justice, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Chairman of the Legislative Council, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly and the Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council. The appointment is then made by the Governor. Once appointed, Lokayukta cannot be dismissed nor transferred by the government, and can only be removed by passing an impeachment motion by the state assembly.

Answer 155

Why in News? The no-confidence motion against the Pinarayi Vijayan government was defeated 87-40 in the Kerala Assembly on Monday. The Assembly has been adjourned sine-die. What is a no-confidence motion? A no-confidence motion is a parliamentary motion which is moved in the Lok Sabha against the entire council of ministers, stating that they are no longer deemed fit to hold positions of responsibility due to their inadequacy in some respect or their failure to carry out their obligations. No prior reason needs to be stated for its adoption in the Lok Sabha.

Answer 156

A motion of “No Confidence Motion” against the Government can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha under rule 198. The Constitution of India does not mention about either a Confidence or a No Confidence Motion. Although, Article 75 does specify that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. A motion of No Confidence can be admitted when a minimum of 50 members, support the motion in the house. The Speaker then, once satisfied that the motion is in order, will ask the House if the motion can be adopted. If the motion is passed in the house, the Government is bound to vacate the office. A no-confidence motion needs a majority vote to pass the House. If individuals or parties abstain from voting, those numbers will be removed from the overall strength of the House and then the majority will be taken into account.

Answer 157

Context: Government of India, the Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) have signed a loan agreement for a $500 million Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III to improve the network capacity, service quality and safety of the suburban railway system in Mumbai. What is AIIB? Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond. It is headquartered in Beijing. It commenced operations in January 2016. It is a development bank with a mission to improve the economic and social outcomes in Asia.

Answer 158

AIIB is an open and inclusive multilateral financial institution. Membership in AIIB shall be open to members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the Asian Development Bank. Unlike other MDBs (multilateral development bank), the AIIB allows for non-sovereign entities to apply for AIIB membership, assuming their home country is a member.

Answer 159

Established in June 2016, the Project Preparation Special Fund (Special Fund) is a multidonor facility with the primary purpose of supporting eligible AIIB members—especially low-income members—prepare bankable infrastructure projects AIIB may finance. The Special Fund provides technical assistance grants for preparing bankable infrastructure projects. Through these grants, clients can hire experts and consultants to carry out the required preparation work.

Answer 160

Board of Governors: The Board of Governors consists of one Governor and one Alternate Governor appointed by each member country. Governors and Alternate Governors serve at the pleasure of the appointing member. Board of Directors: Non-resident Board of Directors is responsible for the direction of the Bank’s general operations, exercising all powers delegated to it by the Board of Governors. This includes approving the Bank’s strategy, annual plan and budget; establishing policies; taking decisions concerning Bank operations; and supervising management and operation of the Bank and establishing an oversight mechanism. International Advisory Panel: The Bank has established an International Advisory Panel (IAP) to support the President and Senior Management on the Bank’s strategies and policies as well as on general operational issues. The Panel meets in tandem with the Bank’s Annual Meeting, or as requested by the President. The President selects and appoints members of the IAP to two-year terms. Panelists receive a small honorarium and do not receive a salary. The Bank pays the costs associated with Panel meetings.

Answer 161

The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential for “scaling up financing for sustainable development” for the concern of global economic governance. The capital of the bank is $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank.

Answer 162

Context: Aam Aadmi Party has sought permission from the Speaker to table a motion for repealing of the Centre’s three agriculture-related ordinances and Power Amendment Bill-2020. It is because AAP argues that these laws are contrary to the federal structure of the country, besides impinging on the rights of the States.

Answer 163

Firstly, few states have accused the Centre of failure to consult the States on the Bill since electricity is on the Concurrent List. Other issues are: The Bill seeks to end subsidies. All consumers, including farmers, will have to pay the tariff, and the subsidy will be sent to them through direct benefit transfer. States are worried about this clause because: This would mean people would have to pay a huge sum towards electricity charges, while receiving support through direct benefit transfer later. This would result in defaults leading to penalties and disconnection. The Bill “divests” the States of their power to fix tariff and hands over the task to a Central government-appointed authority. This is discriminatory, since the tariff can be tweaked according to the whims and fancies of the Central government. The Bill also makes it compulsory for the State power companies to buy a minimum percentage of renewable energy fixed by the Centre. This would be detrimental to the cash- strapped power firms.

Answer 164

Renewable Energy: It delegates the Central Government with the power to prepare and notify a National Renewable Energy Policy “for promotion of generation of electricity from renewable sources”, in consultation with State Governments. Cross Border Trade: The Central Government has been delegated with the power to prescribe rules and guidelines to allow and facilitate cross border trade of electricity. Creation of Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority: It has been proposed to be given sole jurisdiction to adjudicate upon matters on performance of obligations under a contract regarding sale, purchase and transmission of electricity, which exclusion of this specialized authority’s jurisdiction on determination of tariff or any other dispute regarding tariff.

Answer 165

Context: The parliamentary standing committee on science and technology headed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has raised few concerns over the DNA Bill. They are: DNA data could be misused for caste or community-based profiling. The Bill refers to consent in several provisions, but in each of those, a magistrate can easily override consent, thereby in effect, making consent perfunctory (Meaning of perfunctory: performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial). There is also no guidance in the Bill on the grounds and reasons of when the magistrate can override consent, which could become a fatal flaw. The Bill permits retention of DNA found at a crime scene in perpetuity, even if conviction of the offender has been overturned. The Bill also provides that DNA profiles for civil matters will also be stored in the data banks, but without a clear and separate index.

Answer 166

It seeks to establish a national data bank and regional DNA data banks. It envisages that every databank will maintain indices like the crime scene index, suspects’ or undertrials’ index, offenders’ index, missing persons’ index and unknown deceased persons’ index. It also seeks to establish a DNA Regulatory Board. Every laboratory that analyses DNA samples to establish the identity of an individual, has to be accredited by the board. The bill also proposes a written consentby individuals be obtained before collection of their DNA samples. However, consent is not required for offences with punishment of more than seven years in jail or death. It also provides for the removal of DNA profiles of suspects on the filing of a police report or court order, and of undertrials on the basis of a court order. Profiles in the crime scene and missing persons’ index will be removed on a written request.

Answer 167

Why in News? The Delhi High Court has asked municipal bodies to take steps to prevent spread of glanders disease in animals including horses and issued notice to the Delhi government and others on an application filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), India. What’s the issue? In its application, the PETA has sought directions to implement the provisions of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Disease in Animal Act, 2009 and National Action Plan for control and eradication of glanders in horses, mules, ponies, and donkeys in the national capital. About Glanders: It is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei. Who can get infected? While people can get the disease, glanders is primarily a disease affecting horses. It also affects donkeys and mules and can be naturally contracted by other mammals such as goats, dogs, and cats.

Answer 168

Transmitted to humans through contact with tissues or body fluids of infected animals. The bacteria enter the body through cuts or abrasions in the skin and through mucosal surfaces such as the eyes and nose. It may also be inhaled via infected aerosols or dust contaminated by infected animals.

Answer 169

Fever with chills and sweating. Muscle aches. Chest pain. Muscle tightness. Headsche Nasal discharge. Light sensitivity (sometimes with excessive tearing of the eyes).

Answer 170

Context: The Delhi High Court has sought response of the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on a plea seeking action against ‘Google Pay’ for allegedly violating the central bank’s guidelines related to data localisation, storage and sharing norms. What’s the issue? A petition was filed in the court seeking to impose penalty on the company for alleged violations of laws. The plea claimed that the company was storing personal sensitive data in contravention of UPI procedural guidelines of October 2019, which allows such data to be stored only by Payment Service Provider [PSP] bank systems and not by any third-party application.

Answer 171

April 2018: the localisation circular surfaces: The RBI told all payments system operators in India to ensure that payments-related data was stored within the country and gave the companies six months to comply. The RBI wanted data stored locally “to have unfettered access to all payment data for supervisory purposes”. July 2018, Finance ministry tries to step in: The Finance Ministry eased the RBI’s directive for foreign payment firms, saying that mirroring a copy of the data in India would be sufficient. In July, the Data Protection Bill mandated localisation:The long-awaited draft Data Protection Bill 2018 was submitted to the government, adding to the confusion. The bill overrode all sectoral regulators and therefore all their directives. It mandated that all data fiduciaries store a copy of users’ personal data in India. It also required mandatory storage of ‘critical personal data’ within India only. The bill, however, failed to explicitly define ‘critical data’. September 2018, RBI asks for updates on local storage: The RBI asked payment companies to send it fortnightly updates about their progress on local storage of payments data. October 2018, RBI circular comes into effect: The RBI’s circular on localisation of payments data came into effect. February 2019:The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released a Draft E-commerce Policy, which included strategies for regulating access to data, mandating data storage requirements, and controlling cross-border data flows. Data localisation may now be left out of the e-commerce policy, and left to the jurisdiction of the Data Protection Bill.

Answer 172

For securingcitizen’s data, data privacy, data sovereignty, national security, and economic development of the country. The extensive data collection by technology companies, has allowed them to process and monetize Indian users’ data outside the country. Therefore, to curtail the perils of unregulated and arbitrary use of personal data, data localization is necessary. With the advent of cloud computing, Indian users’ data is outside the country’s boundaries, leading to a conflict of jurisdiction in case of any dispute.

Answer 173

DFCCIL under the Ministry of Railways is a special purpose vehicle tasked with planning and completion of 3, Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs). It has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30 October 2006. In the first phase the organisation is constructing the Western DFC (1504 Route km) and Eastern DFC (1856 route km) spanning a total length of 3360 route km.

Answer 174

It will be the country’s longest river ropeway that will connect two banks of the Brahmaputra. The ropeway will cover a distance of 1.8 km, and bring down the travelling time between north Guwahati and the central part of the city to eight minutes.

Answer 175

Bondas is a tribal community residing in the hill ranges of Malkangiri district in Odisha. They are a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG). Their population is around 7,000. Bonda people are often led to bonded labour through marriage, also known as diosing. A form of dowry (known as Gining) is paid for brides.

Answer 176

Context: With a view to promote Indian folk art, National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) a PSU under the Department of Fertilizers has displayed Maharashtra’s famous Warli painting on the outer walls of its Corporate Office in Noida. Who are Warlis? The Warlis or Varlis are an indigenous tribe or Adivasis, living in Mountainous as well as coastal areas of Maharashtra-Gujarat border and surrounding areas. They speak an unwritten Varli language which belong to the southern zone of the Indo-Aryan languages.

Answer 177

Maharashtra is known for its Warli folk paintings. Its roots may be traced to as early as the 10th century A.D. They bear a resemblance to those created in the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka. Scenes portraying hunting, fishing and farming, festivals and dances, trees and animals are used to surround the central theme of the painting. Women are mainly engaged in the creation of these paintings.

Answer 178

A very basic graphic vocabulary like a circle, a triangle and a square are used in these rudimentary wall paintings which are monosyllabic in nature.

Answer 179

Context: China is “actively considering the establishment of a BRICS innovation base in China, in order to strengthen practical cooperation with the BRICS”. Aim: To take forward 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cooperation among the five countries. Rationale behind the proposal: China’s interest in promoting 5G within the BRICS bloc could be part of its interest in pushing tech giant Huawei internationally – Huawei’s name has come up as a contender to build the network in Brazil and South Africa even as it is embroiled in controversies in other countries.

Answer 180

Russia said it would work with China on 5G. In South Africa, Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei is providing services to three of its telecom operators in the roll-out of their 5G networks. Brazil has allowed participation in trials but is yet to take a final call. However, India is the only country in the grouping that is leaning towards excluding Chinese participation in the roll-out of its national 5G network.

Answer 181

India is unlikely to allow Chinese participation in 5G, particularly in the wake of recent moves to tighten investment from China and to ban 59 Chinese apps, citing national security concerns. The ban, which followed the June clash in Galwan Valley, cited a “threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India” posed by the apps. Indian intelligence assessments have also expressed concerns on the possible direct or indirect links of several Chinese companies, including Huawei, with the Chinese military. India has made clear a return to normalcy cannot be possible while tensions along the Line of Actual Control remain unresolved.

Answer 182

In May, British government approached the US with the prospect of creating a 5G club of 10 democracies. It includes G7 countries –UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada – plus Australia, South Korea and India. It will aim to create alternative suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid relying on China.

Answer 183

5G is based on OFDM (Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing), a method of modulating a digital signal across several different channels to reduce interference. 5G uses 5G NR air interface alongside OFDM principles. 5G also uses wider bandwidth technologies such as sub-6 GHz and mmWave. The previous generations of mobile networks are 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G. First generation – 1G 1980s: 1G delivered analog voice. Second generation – 2G Early 1990s: 2G introduced digital voice (e.g. CDMA- Code Division Multiple Access). Third generation – 3G Early 2000s: 3G brought mobile data (e.g. CDMA2000). Fourth generation – 4G LTE 2010s: 4G LTE ushered in the era of mobile broadband. 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G all led to 5G, which is designed to provide more connectivity than was ever available before.

Answer 184

Context: Finance Minister recently said that two-wheelers are neither a luxury nor sin goods and so, merit a GST rate revision. Two-wheelers currently attract 28% GST. Sin goods: Sin goods are goods which consider harmful to society. Example of sin goods: Alcohol and Tobacco, Candies, Drugs, Soft drinks, Fast foods, Coffee, Sugar, Gambling and Pornography. What is sin tax? It is placed on goods that adversely affect health, most notably tobacco and alcohol. Three principal arguments are used to justify this type of taxation: It can reduce consumption through increased prices. Compensate society for things like increased health system costs. Increase resources for the health sector.

Answer 185

According to the current GST rate structure, some of the sin goods that attract a cess include cigarettes, pan masala and aerated drinks. Apart from sin goods, luxury products like cars also attract a cess.

Answer 186

Countries such as the UK, Sweden and Canada impose Sin Taxes on a series of products and services, from tobacco and alcohol to lotteries, gambling and fuel, which chip in with sizeable revenues. Mexico imposed a Soda Tax in 2013. Why is it important? That excessive consumption of tobacco, alcohol or empty calories heightens health risks such as cancer, heart conditions and obesity, is quite well-documented by now. Evidence from other countries that have imposed Sin Taxes shows the consumption of cigarettes and soft drinks has fallen significantly, after the new tax. The huge revenues many State governments in India rake in from liquor sales (and taxes) show that Sin Taxes can mean a bonanza for the State.

Answer 187

Context: India’s multi-wavelength orbiting telescope, AstroSat, has detected light from a galaxy, called AUDFs01, in the extreme-ultraviolet (UV) light. The galaxy is 9.3 billion light years away from Earth. Key points: The discovery was an international collaboration by astronomers from India, Switzerland, France, USA, Japan and the Netherlands. This is the first time that star-forming galaxies have been observed in this extreme UV environment.

Answer 188

The team observed the galaxy within the patch of sky called the Hubble eXtreme Deep field (XDF), which itself sits at the centre of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF). The HUDF is a small area in the constellation of Fornax, created using Hubble Space Telescope data from 2003 and 2004. It contains thousands of galaxies, and became the deepest image of the universe ever taken at the time. XDF contains about 5,500 galaxies. AstroSat looked at a part of XDF for 28 hours in October of 2016, a feat only space telescopes could perform because the atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet radiation.

Answer 189

It is India’s first multi-wavelength space telescope, which has five telescopes seeing through different wavelengths simultaneously — visible, near UV, far UV, soft X-ray and hard X-ray. Onboard the AstroSat is a 38-cm wide UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT), which is capable of imaging in far and near-ultraviolet bands over a wide field of view. AstroSat was launched on 28 September 2015 by ISRO into a near-Earth equatorial orbit. It is a multi-institute collaborative project, involving IUCAA, ISRO, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai), Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Bengaluru), and Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad), among others.

Answer 190

Context: The National Green Tribunal has slammed the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) over its report on the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which proposes 20-30% reduction of air pollution by 2024. What’s the issue? MoEF had recently informed the NGT that a committee has concluded that 20-30% pollutant reduction under the NCAP seems realistic. The Ministry had further said that pollution could not be controlled except to the extent of certain per cent. However, the NGT has disapproved this submission saying that the MoEF’s view was against the constitutional mandate under Article 21 and also against statutory mandate.

Answer 191

Right to Clean Air stood recognised as part of Right to Life and failure to address air pollution was denial of Right to Life. The enforcement of ‘Sustainable Development’ principle and ‘Public Trust Doctrine’ required stern measures to be adopted to give effect to the mandate of international obligations for which the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and other laws had been enacted.

Answer 192

Under the NCAP, the target is to achieve norms in 10 years and reduce load to the extent of 35% in first three years with further reduction of pollution later. This meant for 10 years pollution would remain unaddressed which is too long period of tolerating violations when clean air was Right to Life. Further, it is also not clear what type of pollutants or all pollutants would be reduced. Besides, in 2019, the number of Non-Attainment Cities (NACs) has gone up from 102 to 122.

Answer 193

Violation of laid down air pollution levels resulting in large number of deaths and diseases needed to be addressed expeditiously. Targeted time of reduction of pollution loads needed to be reduced and planned steps needed to be sternly implemented on the ground.

Answer 194

Launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in 2019. It was not notified under the Environment Protection Act or any other Act. It is envisaged as a scheme to provide the States and the Centre with a framework to combat air pollution. It has a major goal of reducing the concentration of coarse (particulate matter of diameter 10 micrometer or less, or PM10) and fine particles (particulate matter of diameter 2.5 micrometer or less, or PM2.5) in the atmosphere by at least 20% by the year 2024, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.

Answer 195

Apart from experts from the industry and academia, the programme will be a collaboration between the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Heavy Industry, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, NITI Aayog, and Central Pollution Control Board.

Answer 196

Initially, 102 cities from 23 States and UTs were chosen as non-attainment cities. With the exception of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, most of those chosen are tier two cities. The cities were selected on the basis of the ambient air quality data from the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) of 2011 – 2015. Maharashtra had the maximum number of cities chosen for the programme.

Answer 197

Established under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act 1985. The Authority replaced the Processed Food Export Promotion Council (PFEPC). APEDA, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industries,promotes export of agricultural and processed food products from India. It has been mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of the scheduled products Fruits, Vegetables and their Products, Meat and Meat Products etc. In addition to this, APEDA has been entrusted with the responsibility to monitor import of sugar.

Answer 198

Launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) in 2017. It is aimed at creating employment for the Adivasis, farmers, unemployed youth, and women by roping them in beekeeping while also increasing India’s honey production.

Answer 199

ICICI Bank has announced the introduction of usage of satellite data-imagery from earth observation satellites—to assess credit worthiness of its customers belonging to the farm sector. ICICI will be the first bank in India to do so. It will use the data to measure an array of parameters related to the land, irrigation and crop patterns and in combination with demographic and financial parameters to make faster lending decisions for farmers

Answer 200

Originally commissioned by the British Navy as HMS Hermes on November 18, 1959, the aircraft carrier had taken part in the Falkland Islands war in 1982. India bought the British carrier in 1986 and rechristened it as INS Viraat. INS Viraat is the Guinness record holder for being the longest-serving warship of the world. Why in News? One of the biggest ship recyclers at Alang — Shree Ram Group — has purchased the aircraft carrier. This is the second aircraft carrier to be broken in India in the past six years. In 2014, INS Vikrant, which played a role in the historic 1971 war with Pakistan was broken down in Mumbai.

Answer 201

Food and agriculture organisation of UN International fund for Agricultural development United Nations Children’s fund World food programme World health organisation

Answer 202

Ministry of social justice and empowerment

Answer 203

Pension fund regulatory and development authority

Answer 204

Employees provident fund organisation

Answer 205

Oxford poverty and human development initiate And UNDP

Answer 206

Nope Ethics committee takes the issue suo motu

Answer 207

For Price Support Scheme we have pulses, oil seeds and copra (dried Coconut) covered For Price Deficiency payment scheme we have oil seeds For Private Procurement and Stockist scheme we have oil seeds covered

Answer 208

Russia Ukraine Georgia Turkey Bulgaria Romania

Answer 209

NITI Aayog

Answer 210

Lakshadweep island

Answer 211

World bank

Answer 212

World bank

Answer 213

Constitutional body

Answer 214

Karnataka Its origin dates back to Tippu sultan

Answer 215

Why in News? Hurricane Laura has made landfall in southwestern Louisiana in US as one of the most powerful storms to hit the state. What Are Hurricanes? Hurricanes are large, swirling storms. They produce winds of 119 kilometers per hour (74 mph) or higher. They form over warm ocean waters.

Answer 216

Eye: The eye is the “hole” at the center of the storm. Winds are light in this area. Skies are partly cloudy, and sometimes even clear. Eye wall: The eye wall is a ring of thunderstorms. These storms swirl around the eye. The wall is where winds are strongest and rain is heaviest. Rain bands: Bands of clouds and rain go far out from a hurricane’s eye wall. These bands stretch for hundreds of miles. They contain thunderstorms and sometimes tornadoes.

Answer 217

A hurricane starts out as a tropical disturbance. This is an area over warm ocean waters where rain clouds are building. A tropical disturbance sometimes grows into a tropical depression. This is an area of rotating thunderstorms with winds of 62 km/hr (38 mph) or less. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm if its winds reach 63 km/hr (39 mph). A tropical storm becomes a hurricane if its winds reach 119 km/hr (74 mph).

Answer 218

Warm ocean waters provide the energy a storm needs to become a hurricane. Usually, the surface water temperature must be 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher for a hurricane to form. Winds that don’t change much in speed or direction as they go up in the sky. Winds that change a lot with height can rip storms apart.

Answer 219

Context: Attorney General of India KK Venugopal has told the Centre that it must compensate states fully for the loss of Goods and Services Tax revenue during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The Centre had sought advice from the attorney general on the matter. Attorney General- Facts: The Attorney General for India is the central government’s chief legal advisor, and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. He is a part of the Union Executive.

Answer 220

He is appointed by the President of India under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President. He must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court. He should be an Indian Citizen. He must have either completed 5 years in High Court of any Indian state as a judge or 10 years in High Court as an advocate. He may be an eminent jurist too, in the eye of the President.

Answer 221

The Attorney General is necessary for giving advice to the Government of India in legal matters referred to him. He also performs other legal duties assigned to him by the President. The Attorney General has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote. The Attorney General appears on behalf of Government of India in all cases (including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which Government of India is concerned. He also represents the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution. The Attorney General can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government. He cannot defend an accused in the criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government. The Attorney General is assisted by two Solicitor General and four Additional Solicitor Generals.

Answer 222

Context: The Delhi-based principal bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has initiated hearing of matters pertaining to regional benches through video conferencing. About AFT: It is a military tribunal in India. It was established in 2009 under the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007. The act was passed on the basis of recommendation of 169th Law Commission Report and various Supreme Court directives.

Answer 223

To adjudicate Disputes and complaints with respect to commission, appointments, enrolments and conditions of service in respect of persons subject to the Army Act, 1950, The Navy Act, 1957 and the Air Force Act, 1950.

Answer 224

Each Bench comprises of a Judicial Member and an Administrative Member. Judicial Members are retired High Court Judges. Administrative Members are retired Members of the Armed Forces who have held the rank of Major General/ equivalent or above for a period of three years or more or Judge Advocate General (JAG), who have held the appointment for at least one year.

Answer 225

The person holding the office of chairperson of AFT must have been either a retired judge of Supreme Court or a Retired chief justice of high court.

Answer 226

Paramilitary forces including the Assam Rifles and Coast Guard are outside the tribunal’s purview. AFT is considered to be a criminal court with respect to Indian Penal Code, and Code of Criminal Procedure. Appeals against the decision of the AFT can be taken only in Supreme Court. High Courts are not allowed to entertain such appeals.

Answer 227

What is it? The EOHO Scheme is an economic recovery measure by the UK government to support hospitality businesses as they reopen after the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. The scheme was announced on July 8 as part of the Plans for Jobs summer economic update.

Answer 228

Under the EOHO Scheme, the government would subsidise meals (food and non-alcoholic drinks only) at restaurants by 50 per cent, from Monday to Wednesday every week, all through August. The discount is capped at GBP 10 per head and does not apply to take-away or event catering. There is no minimum spend and no limit on the number of times customers can avail the offer, since the whole point of the scheme is to encourage a return to dining in restaurants. EOHO scheme would cost GBP 500 million.

Answer 229

All over the world, the food services sector is one of the worst affected by the pandemic. In the UK, the top two concerns were customers avoiding restaurants for fear of contracting the virus and customers having less disposable income for dining out. The scheme makes eating out more affordable for consumers directly and helps restore demand. And Restoring consumer demand is being seen as crucial to the UK’s economic recovery.

Answer 230

The scheme may have been introduced too early, since it was not yet clear whether the problem was on the demand side, with people being reluctant to go out and eat, or on the supply side, with restaurants unable to serve enough people, thanks to social distancing. The scheme benefits everyone, regardless of income. Higher income households would have returned to restaurants anyway.

Answer 231

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has retained a whopping amount of Rs 73,615 crore within the RBI by transferring it to the Contingency Fund (CF) of the central bank. As a result, the CF has swelled to a new high of Rs 264,034 crore.

Answer 232

As per Section 47 of the RBI Act, profits or surplus of the RBI are to be transferred to the government, after making various contingency provisions, public policy mandate of the RBI, including financial stability considerations. The RBI’s transfer this year is as per the economic capital framework (ECF) adopted by the RBI board last year. What is the Contingency Fund (CF)? This is a specific provision meant for meeting unexpected and unforeseen contingencies. This includes depreciation in the value of securities, risks arising out of monetary/exchange rate policy operations, systemic risks and any risk arising on account of the special responsibilities enjoined upon the Reserve Bank. This amount is retained within the RBI.

Answer 233

The central bank’s main risk provision accounts are Contingency Fund, Currency and Gold Revaluation Account (CGRA), Investment Revaluation Account Foreign Securities (IRA-FS) and Investment Revaluation Account-Rupee Securities (IRA-RS). Together now they amount to Rs 13.88 lakh crore.

Answer 234

The Currency and Gold Revaluation Account (CGRA) is maintained by the Reserve Bank to take care of currency risk, interest rate risk and movement in gold prices. Unrealised gains or losses on valuation of foreign currency assets (FCA) and gold are not taken to the income account but instead accounted for in the CGRA. CGRA provides a buffer against exchange rate/ gold price fluctuations. It can come under pressure if there is an appreciation of the rupee vis-à-vis major currencies or a fall in the price of gold.

Answer 235

The unrealised gains or losses on revaluation in foreign dated securities are recorded in the Investment Revaluation Account Foreign Securities (IRA-FS). Similarly, the unrealised gains or losses on revaluation is accounted for in Investment Revaluation Account-Rupee Securities (IRA-RS).

Answer 236

Context: NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness has released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020. EPI is the first report to examine export preparedness and performance of Indian states.

Answer 237

The index ranked states on four key parameters – policy; business ecosystem; export ecosystem; export performance. The index also took into consideration 11 sub-pillars — export promotion policy; institutional framework; business environment; infrastructure; transport connectivity; access to finance; export infrastructure; trade support; R&D infrastructure; export diversification; and growth orientation.

Answer 238

Top 3 states: Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Among the landlocked states, Rajasthan has performed the best, followed by Telangana and Haryana. Among the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand topped the chart, followed by Tripura and Himachal Pradesh. Across Union Territories/City States, Delhi has performed the best, followed by Goa and Chandigarh. On policy parameters, Maharashtra topped the index followed by Gujarat and Jharkhand. On business ecosystem parameter, Gujarat was ranked number one followed by Delhi and Tamil Nadu. In the export ecosystem parameter, Maharashtra topped the Index followed by Odisha and Rajasthan. On the export performance parameter, Mizoram led the index, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra. At present, 70 per cent of India’s export has been dominated by five states – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

Answer 239

Intra- and inter-regional disparities in export infrastructure. Poor trade support and growth orientation among states. Poor R&D infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports.

Answer 240

A joint development of export infrastructure. Strengthening industry-academia linkages. Creating state-level engagements for economic diplomacy. Revamped designs and standards for local products. Harness the innovating tendencies to provide new use cases for such products, with adequate support from the Centre.

Answer 241

Rapid growth of exports is a crucial component for long-term economic growth. A favourable ecosystem enables a country to contribute significantly to global value chains and reap the benefits of integrated production networks, globally.

Answer 242

Context: NITI Aayog has launched the India Component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)–Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA). About NDC- TIA: It is a joint programme, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). It aims to promote a comprehensive approach to decarbonize transport in India, Vietnam, and China. It is implemented by a consortium of seven other organisations. On behalf of the Government of India, NITI Aayog will be the implementing partner.

Answer 243

The NDC-TIA programme has a duration of 4 years. It will allow India and other partner countries to achieve accountable long-term targets by making a sectoral contribution through various interventions, coordinated with a large number of stakeholders in the domain. This will contribute towards achieving their NDCs and increasing their ambition in the transport sector of 2025 NDCs.

Answer 244

India has a massive and diverse transport sector that caters to the needs of billion people. It has the world’s second-largest road network, which contributes to maximum greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through all means of transportation. With increasing urbanisation, the fleet size i.e. the number of sales of vehicles is increasing rapidly. It is projected that the total number of vehicles will be doubled by 2030.

Answer 245

Pampa is the third longest river in Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha. Sabarimala templededicated to Lord Ayyappa is located on the banks of the river. The river is also known as ‘Dakshina Bhageerathi’ and ‘River Baris’.

Answer 246

It is a recreational folk art from the state of Kerala. It is performed by trained artists to entertain people on the occasion of Onam, an annual harvest festival, celebrated mainly in Kerala. Literal meaning of Pulikkali is the ‘play of the tigers’. The origin of Pulikkali dates back to over 200 years, when the Maharaja Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran, the then Maharaja of Cochin, is said to have introduced the folk art.

Answer 247

The Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political partythat is based in Lebanon. The organization was founded by the Iranian effort in 1980s to aggregate Lebanese Shia groups. In the on-going Iran-Israel conflicts, Hezbollah acts as a proxy for Iran. Why in News? Israel launches air attacks at Hezbollah posts on Lebanon border. Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war, and United Nations force UNIFIL is tasked with monitoring the ceasefire.

Answer 248

Culture Ministry announced 7 new circles of the Archaeological Survey of India. Trichy, Raiganj, Rajkot, Jabalpur, Jhansi and Meerut have been announced as new circles and Hampi Mini Circle has been converted into a full fledged circle. ASI was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who became its first Director-General.

Answer 249

Latest developments: The Supreme Court has refused to entertain the Andhra Pradesh government‘s plea challenging the state high court’s decision ordering status quo on two new laws enabling the formation of three capital cities. What’s the issue? On August 4, the Andhra Pradesh High Court ordered status quo on two new laws that enable the establishment of three new capitals for the state. On July 31 the state government notified the AP Decentralisation And Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020,and the AP Capital Region Development Authority (Repeal) Act, 2020.

Answer 250

Latest developments: The United States has blacklisted 24 Chinese companies and targeted a number of individuals it said were part of construction and military actions related to disputed islands in the South China Sea. What’s the issue? The United States accuses China of militarising the South China Sea and trying to intimidate Asian neighbors who might want to exploit its extensive oil and gas reserves. The U.S. has conducted multiple freedom of navigation operations by sending its warships through the area to assert the freedom of access to international waterways. China claims 90% of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also lay claim to parts of an area through which about $3 trillion of trade passes each year.

Answer 251

Context: The Civil Aviation Ministry has approved 78 new routes under the 4th round of Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN. So far, 766 routes have been sanctioned under the UDAN scheme. About Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN: UDAN, which stands for ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’, aims to make air travel affordable and widespread. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in October 10 2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses. The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments. The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.

Answer 252

The scheme entails making the routes financially viable, without insisting on the financial viability of the regional airports, by lowering the cost of flight operations and through financial support in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF). VGF will be available to flight operators on specific routes for the first 3 years of operation.

Answer 253

The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands. The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme. Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.

Answer 254

Context: A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court has held that States can sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List to provide preferential treatment to the “weakest out of the weak”. Background: The judgment is based on a reference to the Constitution Bench the question of law involving Section 4(5) of the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006. The legal provision allows 50% of the reserved Scheduled Castes seats in the State to be allotted to Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs.

Answer 255

Reservation has created inequalities within the reserved castes itself. There is a “caste struggle” within the reserved class as benefit of reservation are being usurped by a few. It is clear that caste, occupation, and poverty are interwoven. The State cannot be deprived of the power to take care of the qualitative and quantitative difference between different classes to take ameliorative measures.

Answer 256

According to the Constitution of India, under article 341(1), the President of India, after consultation with the Governor, may specify, “the castes, races, tribes or parts of groups within castes or races, which shall be deemed to be Scheduled Castes”. Accordingly, the President has notified the Scheduled Castes in the order called ‘Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order-1950’ and the ‘Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes List (Modification) Order-1956. However, under article 341(2), the Parliament of India by law can include or exclude the above-mentioned groups from the list of the Scheduled Castes.

Answer 257

No, said the Supreme Court bench. Sub-classifications within the Presidential/Central List does not amount to “tinkering” with it. No caste is excluded from the list. The States only give preference to weakest of the lot in a pragmatic manner based on statistical data. Besides, Preferential treatment to ensure even distribution of reservation benefits to the more backward is a facet of the right to equality.

Answer 258

It fully endorses the push to extend the creamy layer concept to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The judgment records that “Citizens cannot be treated to be socially and educationally backward till perpetuity; those who have come up must be excluded like the creamy layer”. The entire basket of fruits cannot be given to the mighty at the cost of others under the guise of forming a homogenous class.

Answer 259

With this, the Bench took a contrary view to a 2004 judgment delivered by another Coordinate Bench of five judges in the E.V. Chinnaiah case. In this case, the court had held that allowing States to unilaterally “make a class within a class of members of the Scheduled Castes” would amount to tinkering with the Presidential list. Now with two numerically equal Benches of judges holding contrary viewpoints, the issue has been referred to a seven-judge Bench of the court.

Answer 260

Context: A recent study suggests that the “Wolbachia method” could be used to significantly reduce the incidence of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, in populations where the illness is endemic. Where was this method tested? Scientists from the World Mosquito Program (WMP) of Monash University in Australia and Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia tested this method in a 27-month trial in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They found that using the Wolbachia method reduced the occurrence of dengue in the treated population by 77%.

Answer 261

This method involves introducing Wolbachia, a type of bacteria, into populations of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading dengue. When the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes breed with their wild counterparts, the percentage of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium grows. It is not fully understood why the Wolbachia bacterium interferes with the transmission of dengue. One theory is that the bacterium prevents dengue viruses from replicating in mosquito cells.

Answer 262

Dengue is a viral disease that is endemic in many countries, including India. Although it usually results in mild illness, severe dengue infections can sometimes prove fatal. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates suggest an annual incidence of 100-400 million dengue infections every year, with its global incidence growing dramatically “in recent decades”.

Answer 263

Context: The Centre has presented two options before the states to bridge their goods and services tax (GST) revenue shortfall. They are: States borrow Rs 97,000 crore, which is the estimated shortfall, only “on account of GST” under a special window to be facilitated in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at a ‘reasonable G Sec-linked interest rate’. They borrow the entire Rs 2.35 lakh crore. There also, arrangement could be made with the RBI and certain facilities could be provided. The loans will be serviced via the proceeds of the relevant compensation cess, which will apply on the specified demerit goods for a year or more beyond the current end date of FY22.

Answer 264

The GST Compensation Act, 2017 guaranteed States that they would be compensated for any loss of revenue in the first five years of GST implementation, until 2022, using a cess levied on sin and luxury goods. However, the economic slowdown has pushed both GST and cess collections down over the last year, resulting in a 40% gap last year between the compensation paid and cess collected. States are likely to face a GST revenue gap of ₹3 lakh crore this year, as the economy may contract due to COVID-19, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman termed an unforeseen “act of God”.

Answer 265

The modalities of the compensation cess were specified by the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017. This Act assumed that the GST revenue of each State would grow at 14% every year, from the amount collected in 2015-16, through all taxes subsumed by the GST. A State that had collected tax less than this amount in any year would be compensated for the shortfall. The amount would be paid every two months based on provisional accounts, and adjusted every year after the State’s accounts were audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. This scheme is valid for five years, i.e., till June 2022.

Answer 266

A compensation cess fund was created from which States would be paid for any shortfall. An additional cess would be imposed on certain items and this cess would be used to pay compensation. The items are pan masala, cigarettes and tobacco products, aerated water, caffeinated beverages, coal and certain passenger motor vehicles. The GST Act states that the cess collected and “such other amounts as may be recommended by the [GST] Council” would be credited to the fund.

Answer 267

Most economists expect negative real GDP growth this year, and nominal GDP to be close to last year’s level. As indirect taxes are levied on the nominal value of transactions, this is likely to result in significant shortfall for States from the assured tax collection. A key source of the problem is that the 2017 Act guaranteed a tax growth rate of 14%, which is unachievable this year. Whereas no one could have foreseen the pandemic and its impact on the economy, the 14% target was too ambitious to start with.

Answer 268

The Central government is constitutionally bound to compensate States for loss of revenue for five years. There are several possible solutions to this issue: The Constitution could be amended to reduce the period of guarantee to three years (thus ending June 2020). This would be difficult to do as most States would be reluctant to agree to this proposal. It could also be seen as going back on the promise made to States when they agreed to subsume their taxes into the GST. The Central government could fund this shortfall from its own revenue. States would be happy with this proposal. However, the Centre’s finances are stretched due to shortfall in its own tax collection combined with extra expenditure to manage the health and economic crisis. It may not be in a position to give further support to States. The Centre could borrow on behalf of the cess fund. The tenure of the cess could be extended beyond five years until the cess collected is sufficient to pay off this debt and interest on it. The Centre could convince States that the 14% growth target was always unrealistic. The target should have been linked to nominal GDP growth. If the Centre can negotiate with States through the GST Council to reset the assured tax level, it could then bring in a Bill in Parliament to amend the 2017 Act.

Answer 269

Context: Experts have slammed a recent move of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) giving its greenlight for biosafety research-level-II (BRL-II) field trials for Event 142, a new variety of genetically modified brinjal (Bt brinjal). Why this is a matter of concern? This new variety of genetically modified brinjal was quietly given approval without any data in the public domain. This variety got approved even before the second season BRL-II and the biosafety report was out. This paved the way for crop developers and applicants to seek permission for commercial cultivation. There was no transparencyin the manner when it came to reports regarding the biosafety of this variety of brinjal.

Answer 270

A GM or transgenic crop is a plant that has a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology. For example, a GM crop can contain a gene(s) that has been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring it through pollination. The resulting plant is said to be “genetically modified” although in reality all crops have been “genetically modified” from their original wild state by domestication, selection, and controlled breeding over long periods of time.

Answer 271

In India, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the apex body that allows for commercial release of GM crops. Penalty: Use of the unapproved GM variant can attract a jail term of 5 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh under the Environmental Protection Act ,1986. Why are farmers rooting for GM crops? Reduced costs: Cost of weeding goes down considerably if farmers grow Ht Bt cotton and use glyphosate against weeds. In case of Bt brinjal, the cost reduces as the cost of production is reduced by cutting down on the use of pesticides.

Answer 272

Environmentalists argue that the long-lasting effect of GM crops is yet to be studied and thus they should not be released commercially. Genetic modification, they say, brings about changes that can be harmful to humans in the long run.

Answer 273

World Urdu Conference was recently organised by National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) in New Delhi. NCPUL is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) (The Ministry was renamed as Ministry of Education), Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Government of India. It was setup in 1996 as the National Nodal Agency for the promotion of the Urdu language.

Answer 274

It is a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). They are one of five PVTGs that reside in Andamans archipelago. They speak Jeru dialect among themselves and their number stands at 51. The five PVTGS residing in Andamans are Great Andamanese, Jarwas, Onges, Shompens and North Sentinelese. Why in News? Five members of the Great Andamanese tribe have tested positive for COVID-19.

Answer 275

Togo has become the first country in Africa to eliminate human African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, a disease caused by parasites transmitted through infected tsetse flies. The World Health Organization (WHO) August 27, 2020 certified so, after the country applied for it in 2018.

Answer 276

Context: PM remembers Mahatma Ayyankali on his 157th Birth Anniversary- 28th August. Who is Mahatma Ayyankali? Born on August 28th, 1863 in a small village in the princely state of Travancore, now within the south of the modern-day nation of Kerala, The caste discrimination he faced as a child turned him into a leader of an anti-caste movement and who later fought for basic rights including access to public spaces and entry to schools. Mahatma Gandhi called Ayyankali as ‘Pulaya king’. Indira Gandhi described him as ‘India’s greatest son’.

Answer 277

Ayyankali in 1893 rode an ox-cart challenging the ‘ban’ on untouchables from accessing public roads by caste-Hindus. He also led a rally to assert the rights of ‘untouchables’ at Balaramapuram. The walk Ayyankali took came to be known as ‘walk for freedom’ and the consequent riots as ‘Chaliyar riots’. Ayyankali efforts influenced many changes that improved social wellbeing of those people, who are today referred to as Dalits. Ayyankali became a stated protestor for Pulayar rights. Because of the protests led through Ayyankali, in 1907 a decree turned into issued to confess students from the untouchable network to government schools. Inspired by Sree Narayana Guru, a social reformer from Ezhava caste, Ayyankali started Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham (association for the protection of the poor) which later raised funds to start their own schools.

Answer 278

Context: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has notified new rules for administration in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that specify the functions of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the Council of Ministers. Overview of the new rules: Roles and powers of LG: Police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption, will fall under the executive functions of the LG, implying that the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning. Proposals or matters which affect or are likely to affect the peace and tranquility of the UT or the interest of any minority community, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes “shall essentially be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister, before issuing any orders.” In case of difference of opinion between the LG and a Minister when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers. Role of the President: In case of difference of opinion between the Lieutenant Governor and the Council with regard to any matter, the Lieutenant Governor shall refer it to the Central Government for the decision of the President and shall act according to the decision of the President. The LG of J&K has been empowered to pass directions in such situations that action taken by the Council of Ministers will be suspended for as long as it takes the President of India to decide on the cases referred to her. Role of Council of Ministers, led by the Chief Minister: They will decide service matters of non-All India Services officers, proposal to impose new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments or offices and draft legislations. Any matter which is likely to bring the Government of the Union territory into controversy with the Central Government or with any State Government, shall, as soon as possible, be brought to the notice of the LG and the Chief Minister by the secretary concerned through the Chief Secretary. Role of the Central Government: The Lieutenant Governor shall make a prior reference to the Central government with respect to proposals of the following kinds: those affecting the relations of the Centre with any state government, the Supreme Court of India or any other high court; proposals for the appointment of Chief Secretary and Director General of Police; important cases which affect or are likely to affect the peace and tranquility of the Union Territory; and cases which affect or are likely to affect the interests of any minority community, Scheduled Castes or the Backward Classes.

Answer 279

On August 6, 2019, Parliament read down Article 370 of the Constitution revoking the special status of J&K and bifurcated and downgraded the State into Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh; J&K with a legislative assembly. J&K has been without a chief minister since June 2018. According to requirements of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, fresh elections will be held after the delimitation exercise is completed next year.

Answer 280

In the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, when it had special status, the chief minister was the most powerful person in the decision-making process. With the new rules, CM has been reduced to an ornamental figure. He would not even have the power to transfer a constable of the Jammu & Kashmir Police.

Answer 281

Context: The Supreme Court has held that States are empowered under the Disaster Management Act to override University Grants Commission (UGC) exam guidelines in order to protect human lives amid the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s the issue? UGC had on July 6 issued guidelines based on the recommendations of the R.C. Kuhad Expert Committee. They provided three modes of examination – pen and paper, online and blended (both physical and online). A “special chance” was also given to students unable to take the exams. Following this, a batch of petitions were filed in the court against the direction to hold exams as per the UGC guidelines. The petitioners also contended that the revised guidelines violate Article 14 on two counts — by fixing a date for the completion of exams for the entire country irrespective of the situation in different parts, and discriminating between final and first/second year students.

Answer 282

Universities and other institutions of higher education will have to conduct the final-year exams and “cannot” promote students on the basis of internal assessment or other criteria. However, states and Union Territories, which may have postponed the exams in view of the Covid outbreak, can approach the University Grants Commission (UGC) for extension of the September 30 deadline.

Answer 283

In case of a disaster, the priority of all authorities under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 is to immediately combat the disaster and contain it to save human life. Therefore, under the DM Act, states can countermand the revised UGC guidelines of July 6 to conduct the final year and terminal semester examinations by September 30. However, the powers of the States under the Disaster Management Act do not extend to promoting students on the sole basis of their internal assessment without taking exams.

Answer 284

The court said the July 6 guidelines did not discriminate against final year students by compelling them to take exams while their juniors were promoted on their internal assessment marks. Final year exam is an opportunity for a student to show his optimum calibre. It paves his future career both in academics and employment.

Answer 285

In future, if any State found it impossible to conduct the exams by September 30 and wanted to postpone them, it could apply to the UGC, which would consider the request and decide at the earliest, the court directed.

Answer 286

Under the Act, the States and district authorities can frame their own rules on the basis of broad guidelines issued by the Home Ministry. The legal basis of the DM Act, is Entry 23, Concurrent List of the Constitution “Social security and social insurance”. Entry 29,Concurrent List “Prevention of the extension from one State to another of infectious or contagious diseases or pests affecting men, animals or plants,” can also be used for specific law making.

Answer 287

The stated object and purpose of the DM Act is to manage disasters, including preparation of mitigation strategies, capacity-building and more. It came into force in India in January 2006. The Act provides for “the effective management of disasters and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.” The Act calls for the establishment of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA),with the Prime Minister of India as chairperson. The Act enjoins the Central Government to Constitute a National Executive Committee (NEC) to assist the National Authority. All State Governments are mandated to establish a State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).

Answer 288

The law authorises the NDMA’s chairperson, the Prime Minister, to take decisions to deal with the pandemic, including deciding on relief for victims and special measures for the needy. The state chief minister may also invoke special powers under the law for dealing with the pandemic. The powers of the PM and CMs are the same under the law, except in case of Delhi, where the Lieutenant-Governor, has these powers.

Answer 289

Context: The toy industry in India has asked the government to suspend a Quality Control Order (QCO) issued in February, for at least a year, failing which the industry would be forced to shut shop. What’s the issue? The complexity of Scheme-1 of the QCO and the challenges in adhering to its September 1, 2020 timeline “will have a devastating impact” on the industry. Hence, there is a need for further suspending the order.

Answer 290

The government must constructively engage with all the stakeholders of the industry to formulate a comprehensive policy for domestic and overseas manufacturers based on the rules that are already in place since 2017.

Answer 291

This relates to the regulation of toys and/or materials for use in play by children under 14 years of age, or other products as notified by the Central Government. The order has been issued by DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

Answer 292

Requirement for toys to conform to the latest version of a list of Indian Standards. Requirement for toys to bear the Standard Mark under a licence from the Bureau as per Scheme-I of Schedule-II of Bureau of Indian Standards (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018. Directing the Bureau to be the certifying and enforcement authority.

Answer 293

Under this scheme, the ISI mark is granted to the factories (who is actually producing the goods) and products by the BIS which is the national standards body of India. The main objective of the BIS is to ensure that the products that are delivered to the end consumers are safe for their use and are in adherence with all the quality and safety standards set by them. In India, the ISI mark is the synonym for better quality and safety.

Answer 294

Safety and quality are fundamental concerns for parents who buy toys and other products related to children. It is imperative that not only the industry, but government should also assume an active role in enabling its adoption by a larger section of the society. The recent survey conducted by Quality Council of India shows that 67% of imported toys are not safe for the children.

Answer 295

Context: The European Union has urged Turkey to halt its drilling activities in contested waters in the Mediterranean and ordered EU officials to speed up work aimed at blacklisting some Turkish officials linked to the energy exploration. What’s the issue? Over recent weeks, tensions have been rising in the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, prompted by what seems like a simple rivalry over energy resources. Turkey has pursued an aggressive gas exploration effort, its research vessel heavily protected by warships of the Turkish Navy. There have been encounters with rival Greek vessels and a third Nato country, France, has become involved, siding with the Greeks. These tensions also highlight another shift in the region – the decline of US power.

Answer 296

Tensions are mounting to breaking point between Turkey and Greece over Turkey’s drilling work near the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which like Greece is an EU member country. Turkey doesn’t recognize the divided island of Cyprus as a state and claims 44 per cent of Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone as its own. Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece.

Answer 297

It is a vast sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south, and Asia to the east. The Mediterranean Sea connects: to the Atlantic Oceanby the Strait of Gibraltar(known in Homer‘s writings as the “Pillars of Hercules“) in the west to the Sea of Marmaraand the Black Sea, by the Straits of the Dardanellesand the Bosporus respectively, in the east The 163 km (101 mi) long artificial Suez Canalin the southeast connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

Answer 298

Africa has been declared free from wild polio by the independent body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission. Now only the vaccine-derived polio virus remains in Africa. When a country is certified as free of wild polio? A region is certified as free of wild polio after three years have passed without the virus being detected in any of its countries. Nigeria is the last African country to be declared free from wild polio.

Answer 299

Wild polio is still present in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Answer 300

It is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus. This means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an infected person. These viruses may cause illness, including paralysis.

Answer 301

Oral polio vaccine (OPV) contains an attenuated (weakened) vaccine-virus, activating an immune response in the body. When a child is immunized with OPV, the weakened vaccine-virus replicates in the intestine for a limited period, thereby developing immunity by building up antibodies. During this time, the vaccine-virus is also excreted. In areas of inadequate sanitation, this excreted vaccine-virus can spread in the immediate community (and this can offer protection to other children through ‘passive’ immunization), before eventually dying out.

Answer 302

Context: Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has launched “Chunauti”- Next Generation Startup Challenge Contest. Aims and Objectives: To further boost startups and software products with special focus on Tier-II towns of India. Identify around 300 startups working in identified areas and provide them seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh and other facilities. Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the following areas of work: Edu-Tech, Agri-Tech & Fin-Tech Solutions for masses. Supply Chain, Logistics & Transportation Management. Infrastructure & Remote monitoring. Medical Healthcare, Diagnostic, Preventive & Psychological Care. Jobs & Skilling, Linguistic tools & technologies.

Answer 303

The startups selected will be provided various support from the Government through Software Technology Parks of India centers across India. They will get incubation facilities, mentorship, security testing facilities, access to venture capitalist funding, industry connect as well as advisories in legal, Human Resource (HR), IPR and Patent matters. Besides seed fund of upto Rs. 25 Lakh, the startups will also be provided cloud credits from leading cloud service providers. Each intern (start-up under pre-incubation) will be paid Rs. 10,000/- per month upto a period of 6 months.

Answer 304

The barn owl is the most widespread landbird species in the world, occurring in every continent except Antarctica. They are one of the most widespread owls in the Indian Subcontinent. These owls are medium-sized with long legs and wings and have a relatively shorter tail when compared to other similar sized owls. Barn Owl exhibits dark eyes, and a distinct heart-shaped facial disc. This owl doesn’t have the characteristic ‘woo-woo-woo’ hoot of owls and utters a screechy ‘shreeeeeeeee’ to protect its territory. IUCN status- Least Concern. Why in News? The Lakshadweep Administration had embarked on the ‘Pilot project on Biological Control of Rodents (Rats) by Using Barn Owls (Tyto alba) in Kavaratti Island’.

Answer 305

Context: 6th Foundation Day of AREAS. About AREAS: AREAS was formed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for better coordination, interaction and sharing of best practices among the various state nodal agencies (SNAs) for renewable energy. The Union Minister for MNRE is the Patron of the Association. The MNRE Secretary is the ex officio President of the Association.

Answer 306

Onam is celebrated at the beginning of the month of Chingam, the first month of the solar Malayalam calendar (Kollavarsham). It falls in August or September each year. The festival is spread over 10 days and culminates with Thiruvonam, the most important day. About the festival: According to a popular legend, the festival is celebrated to welcome King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. It is also celebrated as the festival of paddy harvest. How is it celebrated? During the festival, people get dressed in their traditional attire, prepare the Onam Sadhya and take part in a variety of group activities such as the Pookolam (rangoli made with fresh flowers), Vallam Kali (boat race), Pulikali (tiger dance), Kai Kottu Kali (Onam dance), Kummattikali (mask dance) and various other activities.

Answer 307

Why in News? Over 10 individuals belonging the Great Andamanese tribe, a notified Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), with a population of just 56 individuals tested positive for COVID. The island administration has since ramped up testing among the Onge, Little Andamanese and the Great Andamanese and the Jarawas. About ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)’: PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. They have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward. They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.

Answer 308

In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, who are less developed among the tribal groups. In 1975, the Government of India initiated to identify the most vulnerable tribal groups as a separate category called PVTGs and declared 52 such groups, while in 1993 an additional 23 groups were added to the category, making it a total of 75 PVTGs, spread over 18 states and one Union Territory (A&N Islands) in the country (2011 census). Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highest number are found in Odisha (13), followed by Andhra Pradesh (12). In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as PVTGs.

Answer 309

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” exclusively for them. Under the scheme, Conservation-cum-Development (CCD)/Annual Plans are to be prepared by each State/UT for their PVTGs based on their need assessment, which are then appraised and approved by the Project Appraisal Committee of the Ministry. Priority is also assigned to PVTGs under the schemes of Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Tribal Sub-Scheme (TSS), Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution, Grants-in-aid to Voluntary Organisations working for the welfare of Schedule Tribes and Strengthening of Education among ST Girls in Low Literacy Districts.

Answer 310

A pre-agriculture level of technology. A stagnant or declining population. Extremely low literacy. A subsistence level of economy.

Answer 311

Context: The final list of Assam’s updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on August 31 last year. But a year since that date, the process hasn’t moved forward much. The 19 lakh applicants (of the total 3.30 crore) who were left out of the list have not been able to file appeals as they are yet to get rejection slips needed to do so. Reasons for the delay: The ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the floods in between.

Answer 312

The rejection slips are required for those left out of the NRC to file appeals in the foreigners’ tribunals (FTs), a quasi-judicial body that decides the fate of those declared suspected foreigners. These slips will mention reasons for exclusion of an applicant’s name. The state NRC office has to issue to rejection slips.

Answer 313

The NRC is the list of Indian citizens and was prepared in 1951, following the census of 1951. The process of NRC update was taken up in Assam as per a Supreme Court order in 2013. In order to wean out cases of illegal migration from Bangladesh and other adjoining areas, NRC updation was carried out under The Citizenship Act, 1955, and according to rules framed in the Assam Accord.

Answer 314

Context: The first phase of the Census and the exercise to update the National Population Register (NPR), scheduled for this year but deferred due to the coronavirus outbreak, may be delayed by a year as there is no sign of slowdown of the pandemic. What is National Population Register (NPR)? It is a Register of usual residents of the country. It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. It is mandatory for every usual resident of India to register in the NPR. Objectives: To create a comprehensive identity database of every usual resident in the country.

Answer 315

A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

Answer 316

Comes in the backdrop of the NRC excluding lakhs of people in Assam. It intends to collect a much larger amount of personal data on residents of India. There is yet no clarity on the mechanism for protection of this vast amount of data.

Answer 317

Context: The United Nations has released its first-ever guidelines on access to social justice for people with disabilities to make it easier for them to access justice systems around the world. The guidelines outline a set of 10 principles and detail the steps for implementation. The 10 principles are: Principle 1 All persons with disabilities have legal capacity and, therefore, no one shall be denied access to justice on the basis of disability. Principle 2 Facilities and services must be universally accessible to ensure equal access to justice without discrimination of persons with disabilities. Principle 3 Persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, have the right to appropriate procedural accommodations. Principle 4 Persons with disabilities have the right to access legal notices and information in a timely and accessible manner on an equal basis with others. Principle 5 Persons with disabilities are entitled to all substantive and procedural safeguards recognized in international law on an equal basis with others, and States must provide the necessary accommodations to guarantee due process. Principle 6 Persons with disabilities have the right to free or affordable legal assistance. Principle 7 Persons with disabilities have the right to participate in the administration of justice on an equal basis with others. Principle 8 Persons with disabilities have the rights to report complaints and initiate legal proceedings concerning human rights violations and crimes, have their complaints investigated and be afforded effective remedies. Principle 9 Effective and robust monitoring mechanisms play a critical role in supporting access to justice for persons with disabilities. Principle 10 All those working in the justice system must be provided with awareness-raising and training programmes addressing the rights of persons with disabilities, in particular in the context of access to justice.

Answer 318

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in 2007 as the first major instrument of human rights in the 21st century. It defines persons with disabilities as those “who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”.

Answer 319

Discrimination on the basis of disability’ means any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field. It includes all forms of discrimination, including denial of reasonable accommodation.

Answer 320

As per statistics maintained by the UN, in India 2.4 per cent of males are disabled and two per cent of females from all age groups are disabled. Disabilities include psychological impairment, intellectual impairment, speaking, multiple impairments, hearing, seeing among others. In comparison, the disability prevalence in the US is 12.9 per cent among females and 12.7 per cent among males. Disability prevalence in the UK is at 22.7 per cent among females and 18.7 per cent among males.

Answer 321

Why in News? Completes six years of successful implementation. The number of total PMJDY accounts stand at 40.35 crore. Rural PMJDY accounts stand at 63.6 percent. Women PMJDY accounts stand at 55.2 percent. About PMJDY: Announced on 15th August 2014, PMJDY is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.

Answer 322

To ensure access of financial products & services at an affordable cost. Use of technology to lower cost & widen reach.

Answer 323

Banking the unbanked – Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges. Securing the unsecured – Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs. Funding the unfunded – Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit.

Answer 324

Universal access to banking services – Branch and Banking Correspondents. Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility (OD) of Rs. 10,000/- to every household. Financial Literacy Program– Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking. Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund – To provide banks some guarantee against defaults. Insurance – Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of 30,000 on account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015. Pension scheme for Unorganized sector.

Answer 325

Focus shift from Every Household to Every Unbanked Adult. RuPay Card Insurance – Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakhs for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018. Enhancement in overdraft facilities – OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000; OD upto Rs 2,000 (without conditions). Increase in upper age limit for OD from 60 to 65 years.

Answer 326

First ever RORO service of South Western Railway from Nelamangla (near Bengaluru) to Bale (near Solapur) has been started. This shall be the only privately operated RORO train services on Indian Railways. What is RORO? Roll On Roll Off (RORO) is a concept of carrying road vehicles loaded with various commodities, on open flat railway wagons. RORO services are combination of best features of road and rail transports in the sense that they offer door to door service with minimal handling transported by fat and direct rail link.

Answer 327

Faster movement of goods and essentials, reducing Time taken by trucks to reach destinations due to traffic congestion in between cities. Reduces congestion on the roads. Saves precious fuel. Reduces carbon footprint. Relief to crew of truck as it avoids long distance driving. No hassles of check posts/toll gates etc. Seamless Inter-operability between roadways & railways-Inter-modal transport on existing track. Ensuring uninterrupted supply of essential commodities.

Answer 328

RO-RO train services were first introduced in Indian Railways on Konkan Railways in 1999, and are running successfully since then.

Answer 329

She was Britain’s World War II spy. She became the first Indian-origin woman to be honoured with a memorial Blue Plaque in central London recently. While Khan is the first woman of Indian origin to be honoured with a blue plague, it has been erected on houses and venues associated with several Indian men including Mahatma Gandhi, Raja Ram Mohon Roy, and B R Ambedkar. What is the Blue Plaque scheme? It is run by English Heritage charity. It honours notable people and organisations connected with particular buildings across London.

Answer 330

Context: President Kovind honours record 74 Indians with National Sports Awards. About the Awards: They are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four years; Arjuna Award is given for consistent outstanding performance for four years; Dronacharya Award goes to the coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious international sports events; Dhyan Chand Award is for life time contribution to sports development. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar is given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy is for the Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments. Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award is for recognition of adventure among the people of the country.

Answer 331

Context: Foundation day of NPPA was recently observed. About NPPA: NPPA was set-up as an independent Regulator on 29th August, 1997 for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices. The regulator is an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers. The functions of NPPA include fixation and revision of prices of Scheduled drugs under Drug (Price Control) Orders issued from time to time, as well as monitoring and enforcement of prices and ensuring availability and accessibility of all medicines and medical devices, including non scheduled drugs.

Answer 332

It’s similar to a Super Over in cricket or a penalty shootout in hockey or football. In an Armageddon game White has more thinking time on the clock than Black but a draw on the board scores as a Black win. Normally White has five or six minutes and Black four or five for the entire game. Black, considered at a disadvantage, is given a minute less to process the game and the handicap effectively puts the onus of a win on White.

Answer 333

It has a GI tag. It is a pure organic product. Tribals grow the tuber without applying fertiliser or pesticide. Why in News? Despite a GI tag, the lockdown has meant meagre sales of the organic tuber.

Answer 334

Why in News? China has been developing two air defence positions that will cover the 2017 Doklam stand-off area and also Naku La in Sikkim. Key facts: Naku La sector is a pass at a height of more than 5,000 metres above Mean Sea Level (MSL) in the state of Sikkim. It is located ahead of Muguthang or Cho Lhamu (source of River Teesta). Doklam (or Zhonglan or Donglong): It is an area with a plateau and a valley which lies on the Bhutan-China border, near India. It is located between Tibet’s Chumbi valley to the North, Bhutan’s Ha valley to the East and India’s Sikkim state to the West.

Answer 335

Channapatna toys are a particular form of wooden toys (and dolls) that are manufactured in the town of Channapatna in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka state. This traditional craft is protected as a geographical indication(GI). As a result of the popularity of these toys, Channapatna is known as Gombegala Ooru (toy-town) of Karnataka. Why in News? COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a crippling blow to the industry. It has forced many workers to scout for sundry jobs for survival.