Q. Why is this in News?A. The government is pushing to set up 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) for Scheduled Tribe (ST)students.Q. What are EMRS?A. EMRS is a scheme for making model residential schools for STs across India.It started in the year 1997-98.Its nodal ministry is Ministry of Tribal Affairs.The aim of the scheme to build schools at par with the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalayas with focus on special s... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, it has been reported that projects launched to track small fishing vessels along India’s coast are making progress.The third edition of the ‘pan-India’ coastal defence Exercise Sea Vigil-22 is also scheduled to be held on 15th-16th November to test coastal security.Q. What are Different Projects to Track Small Fishing Vessels?A. Automatic Identification System:An Automatic Identificatio... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News? A. Recently, Norway’s Ambassador to India has reported that the bilateral trade between India and Norway has doubled to $2 billion in the last two years. Q. What are the Upcoming Areas of Cooperation in India Norway Relations? A. Norway would invest $1 billion from its climate investment fund in five years worldwide, how much of the funds would be invested in India would depend on the projects. Norway is working with the Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has come out with a regulatory framework for online bond platform providers in a bid to streamline their operations.Online Bond Platform Providers (OBPPs) would be companies incorporated in India and they should register themselves as stock brokers in the debt segment of the stock exchange, as per the framework that would be effective immediately.Q. What is the Need for a Regulatory Framework?A. With the bond market offering tremendous scope for de... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. According to the Lancet Countdown report on Health and Climate Change: Health at the Mercy of Fossil Fuels, reliance on fossil fuels is increasing the risk of disease, food insecurity and other illnesses related to heat.Q. What are the Findings of the Report?A. Impact on Health:Climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health — clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.Populat... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to step in and make very serious and sincere efforts to tackle the issue of Forced Religious Conversion.Q. What was Petition and the Court's Ruling?A. The petition sought a declaration that fraudulent religious conversion by “intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits” offends Articles 14, 21, 25 of the Constitution.The plea pointed out that in the 1977 ruling in the Rev Stainisla... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2022 titled “Seeing the Unseen: The case for action in the neglected crisis of uTnintended pregnancy” was launched.Q. What are the key Findings of the Report?A. Rising Unintended Pregnancies:Between 2015 and 2019, there were roughly 121 million unintended pregnancies globally each year.Lack of Safe, Modern Methods of Contraception: Read More...
Q. Why is this in News? A. Minister of Railways has launched Indian Railway Innovation Policy- “StartUps for Railways”. Q. What are the Key Highlights of the Policy? A. About: Grant up to Rs. 1.5 Crore to innovators on equal sharing basis with provision of milestone-wise payment. The complete process from floating of problem statement to development of prototype is online with defined time line to make it transparent and objective. Trials of prototypes will b... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, Centre pointed out that India is already importing and consuming oil derived from Genetically Modified (GM) crops in a plea challenging the clearance for environmental release of GM mustard.Also, around 9.5 million tonnes (mt) of GM cotton seed is produced annually and 1.2 mt of GM cotton oil is consumed by human beings, and about 6.5 mt of cotton seed is consumed as animal feed.Q. What is the State of Edible Oil Sector in India?A. Place in Cou... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Report on Municipal Finances, compiling and analyzing budgetary data for 201 Municipal Corporations (MCs) across all States.The RBI Report explores ‘Alternative Sources of Financing for Municipal Corporations’ as its theme.Q. What is a Municipal Corporation?A. About:In India, the Municipal Corporation is the urban local government&n... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. During the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the UAE and Indonesia announced the "Mangrove Alliance for Climate."Q. What is the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)?A. It includes UAE, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, and Spain.It seeks to educate and spread awareness worldwide on the role of mangroves in curbing global warming and its potential as a solution for climate change.However, the intergover... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, Union Minister addressed the Indian Tea Association’s (ITA’s) International Small Tea Grower's Convention.Founded in 1881, the ITA is the premier and the oldest organization of tea producers in India. It has played a multi-dimensional role towards formulating policies and initiating action towards the development and growth of the industry.Q. What is the State of Indian Tea Industry?A. Production:India is the second-largest producer... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.The Directorate of Tourism, Kashmir has organised a saffron festival in the Karewa of Pampore.Q. What is Saffron?A. Saffron is a spice derived from the flower of Crocus sativus, commonly known as the “saffron crocus”.The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in food.Q. What is Kashmir Saffron?A. It is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) in some regions of Kashmir, including Pulwa... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.While inaugurating north India’s first hyperscale data centre ‘Yotta D1’, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh explained that the state achieved the target of installing 250 MW of storage capacity with an investment of Rs 20,000 crore within a year of launching its data centre policy.Q. What is Yotta D1?A. About:Yotta D1, built at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore, is the country’s biggest and UP’s first data centre.It is spread over an ar... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the railway ministry is planning to bid out 16 stations under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. These railway stations will be upgraded to ensure improved basic facilities and accessibility for passengers.This is in addition to the 1253 railway stations that have been identified for development under the Adarsh Station Scheme.Q. What is Public Private Partnership Model?A. About:It is an arrangement betwe... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. Emphasising sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth while preserving the ecosystem's health, the Defence Minister of India during the 18th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in New Delhi said India stands for open and rule-based maritime borders in Indo-Pacific.Q. What is Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM)?A. It is an apex level forum facilitating the congregation of all the major Coast Guard Agencies of the Asian region, it was established in 2004.It is a Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. Recently, Government of India has announced a month-long programme named the ‘Kashi-Tamil Sangamam’ “to strengthen” and “rekindle” the cultural and civilisational bond between Tamil Nadu and Varanasi.This programme would be a part of the Ek Bharat Sreshtha Bharat initiative.Q. What is Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat?A. Launched: It was launched in 2015 to promote engagement amongst the people of different States/UTs so as to enhance mutual und... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Supreme Court has sought the government's position on petitions challenging the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, which allows only members of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions to be recognised as SCs.Q. What is the Petition about?A. The petitions arguing for inclusion Dalit Christians and Muslims have cited several independent Commission reports that have documented the existence of caste and caste inequalities among Indian Christians and Indi... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Carolyn R Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K Barry Sharpless have been awarded the Nobel Prize 2022 in Chemistry “for the development of Click Chemistry and Bioorthogonal Chemistry”.Sharpless (won second time) came up with the term ‘click chemistry’ and worked extensively on it.Meldal, independently of Sharpless, came up with a special chemical structure called ‘triazole’ which has many significant applications.Bertozzi Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland for another six months.Q. What are the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA)?A. Background:A reincarnation of the British-era legislation that was enacted to quell the protests during the Quit India movement, the AFSPA was issued by way of four ordinances in 1947.The ordinances were replaced by an Act in 1948 Read More...