Why in news?The first Indigenous High Temperature Fuel Cell System has been developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with Indian industries under India’s flagship program named “New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI).” A unique example of Public-Private Partnership (PPP).What is a fuel cell? Read More...
What is Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) about?The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was passed by the Parliament in December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing relaxations to Indian citizenship law for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities that had fled persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before December 2014.Muslims were not given such eligibility. The act was the first time religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under I... Read More...
(Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Assessment) What? SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. According to this vision, India would do everything to safeguard its mainland and islands and defend its interests. Further, India will also work to ensure a safe, secure and stable Indian Ocean region (IOR). Read More...
Why in the News?The Prime Minister of India attended the 16th India-ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, Thailand on November 03, 2019.What are the highlights?Along with this Summit, the other summits that took place in Thailand are- Read More...
What does the Act say? The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 prohibits insult to the country's national symbols, including the National Flag, the Constitution, the National Anthem and map of India. This act is applied in a case of insult, public or not, as well as intentional or otherwise. Whoever in any public place or in any other place within public view shows disrespect shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. Read More...
PM Modi embarks on two-day visit to Saudi Arabia (October 2019): India and Saudi Arabia signed a raft of key pacts to significantly ramp up ties in several key sectors including oil and gas, renewable energy and civil aviation during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to the Gulf nation. India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, imports 83 per cent of its oil needs. Read More...
The Parliament passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 to increase the strength of the Supreme Court to thirty-three (33), excluding the Chief Justice of India, from the previous sanctioned strength of 30 judges and CJI. It was passed as a money bill. It was an amendment to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. Why is the amendment being made to raise the strength? It is to deal with the constant rise in the pendency of cases. Read More...
What?A Disaster Risk Index (DRI) has been prepared that assigns scores to each state based on probability of hazard and vulnerability of the state to deal with disaster.Why in news?Recently, 15th Finance Commission has attempted a transparent methodology for disaster ma... Read More...
Outcomes of the visit: The German leader, on a three-day visit, sealed 17 MoUs and five Joint Declarations of Intent, covering a wide range of issues including agriculture, education, and heritage conservation. A Joint Statement issued after the official consultation, expressed firm opposition to international terrorism and urged the global community to act against safe havens and sanctuaries of terrorists, saying that both sides oppose terrorism in all its “forms... Read More...
The Winter session of Parliament will be held from November 18 to December 13.How many sessions does the Parliament have normally?Three- Budget session from late January till April which is the longest. Monsoon session in July-August. Winter session in November-December. It can have a special session if it wants to.How is the length of the session decided?It depends on the business that is to be transacted by way of passing Bills and so on. Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Presiding... Read More...
Facts:India’s data centre market is likely to reach $4 billion against the US’s $69 billion by 2024.The global data centre market is expected to grow by $284.44 billion during 2019-23, according to market researcher Technavio.Why data centres are important? Read More...
What is GHI?The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is an international tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels. GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger. They help raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger and provide a way to compare levels of hunger among countries. Can you differentiate between hunger, undernutrition and malnutrition?Hunger is usually understood to refer to the dist... Read More...
The foreign ministers of the Quad countries - India, US, Australia and Japan - met on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting on 27th September 2019.What is Quad?The Quadrilateral security dialogue or Quad was first mooted by the Japanese Prime Minister in 2007.However, the idea couldn’t move ahead with Australia pulling out of it, apparently due to Chinese pressure.In November 2017, India, the US, Australia and Japa... Read More...
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu offered reform plan for making the functioning of parliament conform to highest standards. What are the ills in the functioning of the parliament today?Declining number of sittings of legislaturesPersistent disruptions, Declining quality of debates, Growing number of legislators with criminal record, High degree of absenteeism, Read More...
What is the Act?The Customs Act, 1962 is the basic statute which governs entry or exit of different categories of vessels, aircrafts, goods, passengers , etc., into or outside the country.So far, the government had powers to only ban imports and exports of gold and silver under the Customs Act, 1962. Read More...
What is minimum support price (MSP)?It is the price announced by the government at the beginning of the sowing season- both Kharif (summer) and Rabi (winter) crops- that it will pay to the farmer for the produce that it will procure from him after harvesting. It is the minimum- that is, it will not pay less than this price.How is it different from the procurement price?MSP is announced at the beginning of the sowing season. Procurement price is the price actually paid to the farmer by the Government agency- Food C... Read More...
What’s the Issue?The US Senate overwhelmingly approved North Macedonia’s accession to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).Senators voted 91 to 2 to ratify North Macedonia as the alliance’s 30th member state. The Permanent Representatives of 29 NATO member states signed the protocol on Macedonia’s accession in Brussels this February.What is Prespa Agreement? What was the problem between Macedonia and Greece regarding the name? Read More...
What is NCRB?National Crime Records Bureau is a government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. Why is it set up?NCRB was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators and policy makers to intervene appropriately. Read More...
What?The Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Act, 2020 aims for resolution of tax disputes and related matters.Why?As on 30th November, 2019, there were around 5 lakh cases pending at various levels with disputed tax arrears amounting to approximately Rs 9 lakh crore.&n... Read More...