Q. Why is this in news? A. India and Bangladesh discussed a wide range of River Water Sharing issues related to the major common rivers such as the Ganga, Teesta and several others during the 38th meeting of the Joint River Commission (JRC). Q. What are the Rivers between India and Bangladesh? A. Overall, India and Bangladesh have 54 transboundary rivers between them, all of which are part of the drainage system of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin. The Padma (the Ganga), the Jamuna (the Brahmaputra) and the Meghna (th... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. The Supreme Court has sought a response from the government on appeals to criminalize marital rape. Q. What are the opinions on Marital Rape?A .This follows a split decision from the Delhi High Court on whether or not to prosecute husbands for non-consensual intercourse with their wives. Q. What is Marital Rape?AMarital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without her consent.It is no different manifestation of domestic viol... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Ayurveda, India’s traditional medicine, has been in practice for close to 3,000 years and has been serving the health-care needs of millions of Indians.Ayurveda, for long, has been facing challenges to address a few areas, which need to be discussed. Q. What is Ayurveda?A. About:The word Ayurveda derived from AYU and VEDA. AYU means life, VEDA means science or knowledge, Ayurve... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News? A. UNESCO’s Global Agreement on the Ethics of AI can guide governments and companies alike. Q. What is Artificial Intelligence? A. It describes the action of machines accomplishing tasks that have historically required human intelligence. It includes technologies like machine learning, pattern recognition, big data, neural networks, self-algorithms etc. The origin of the concept can be traced back to Greek ... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news? A. The WTO ministerial meeting in June at Geneva did precious little to address the issue of public stockholding of food. Q. What about Public stockholding issue at WTO? A. India’s PSH policy is based on procuring food from farmers at an administered price(minimum support price or MSP), which is generally higher than the market price. PSH’s’ twin objectives: The PSH policy serves the twin objectives of offering remunerative prices to farmers... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news? A . In a surprise development last week, the Government withdrew the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, thereby abruptly halting the country’s quest for a national data protection law that had been in the works for over five years. Q. What are the Reasons for withdrawal of the Bill? A. The short circular issued by the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology states that considering the report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) — it had proposed 81 amendments and made 12 recomm... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has said that only 402 online applications are received to avail benefits under SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes).More than 10 crore Indians from 1,400 communities belong to these groups, as per the latest estimates available with the government. Q. What is SEED?A. About:The Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified/Nomadic/SemiNomadic (SEED) communities was launched in February 202... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. According to a new study, more than 1.1 million sea turtles have been illegally killed and, in some cases, trafficked from 1990 to 2020.The sea turtle species that faced the most exploitation in the 30-year-period were Green (56%) and Hawksbill Sea Turtles (39%). Q. What are the Key Highlights of the Study?A. Marginal Decline in Poaching: There has been a decline of 28% in the poaching of marine creatures, with over 44,000 turtles targeted annually over the last decade.... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. Bengaluru floods are alarming us to go for robust disaster management strategies. Q. What is flood?A. Floods are the most frequent type of natural disaster and occur when an overflow of water submerges land that is usually dry. Floods are often caused by heavy rainfall, rapid snowmelt or a storm surge from a tropical cyclone or tsunami in coastal areas. Q. What are the Causes of frequent urban floods?A .NaturalMete... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.Warangal, Nilambur, and Thrissur have joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC). Q. What does UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities mean?A. An international policy-oriented network, the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities is a network of inspiration, know-how and best practices.It is coordinated by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL).The Network has member cities that it supports in aspects like promoting policy dialogue and peer learning, documenting effective strategies and best pract... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.Indian Railways had successfully completed trials of the second generation Vande Bharat train that will come with enhanced passenger comfort and safety features. Q. What is Vande Bharat Express?A. The Vande Bharat Express is a semi-high-speed train designed, developed, and built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF).Presently there are only two Vande Bharat trains that are running — Delhi to Varanasi and Delhi to Katra. Q. What are t... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news? A . The Vice President has released the Arabic Version of “Majma Ul-Bahrain” of Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh. The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians. Critically analyse. Q. Who was Dara Shikoh? A. Dara Shikoh, who was Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s son and expected heir, was killed on the orders of his brother Aurangzeb in 1659 after losing the war of succession. Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. There has been a steady spike in cases of cybercrime in the last five years. Q. What is a cybercrime?A. Cybercrime is any criminal activity that involves a computer, networked device or a network. While most cybercrimes are carried out in order to generate profit for the cybercriminals, some cybercrimes are carried out against computers or devices directly to damage or disable them. Q. What data states?A. India reported 52,974 cases of cy... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news? A. Oxfam India’s latest ‘India Discrimination Report 2022’ finds women in India despite their same educational qualifications and work experience as men will be discriminated in the labour market due to societal and employers’ prejudices. Q. What About the report? A. The Oxfam India report refers to unit-level data from: 61st round National Sample Survey (NSS) data on employment-unemployment (2004-05) Periodic Labour Force Survey in 2018-19 and 2019-20 and Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. According to the report by Getting India to Net Zero, India needs a massive USD 10.1 trillion investment from now on if India is to achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2070. Q. What are the Key Highlights of the Report?A. Investment:The investment required by India would be USD 13.5 trillion if the net zero emission target is to be met by 2050.Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC):India’s National... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has launched the Green Fins Hub, a global digital platform to give sustainable marine tourism a ‘major boost’. Q. What is Green Fins Hub?AA. The Green Fins Global Hub will be a first-of-its-kind online support system to motivate scuba operators to improve their daily environmental practices at scale.It aims to help diving and snorkeling operators worldwide to make simple, cost-efficient changes to their daily practices by utilizing tried and tested solutions.It would also h... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A. PM Modi framed the right to transit in the context of connectivity and how it could help establish reliable and resilient supply chains in the region. Q. Why did PM pitch this?A. Lack of transit across Pakistan’s territory has been a challenge for India to access Central Asian markets.Iran’s President also said that despite the impressive potential, infrastructural connections in the field of transit between members of the SCO are not so extensiv... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.A renowned French filmmaker died earlier this week by assisted suicide at the age of 91. Q. What is Assisted Suicide?A. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are practices under which a person intentionally ends their life with active assistance from others.These have long been contentious topics of debate as they involve a complex set of moral, ethical and in some cases, religious questions.Several European nations, some states in Australia and Colombia in South America allow assisted suicide and euthanasia under certain circumstan... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A .In May this year, some pilgrims offered prayers inside the Martand Temple, an Archaeological Survey of India-protected (ASI) monument Q. What About Martand Sun Temple?A. The Martand Sun Temple is a Hindu temple located near the city of Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley.It dates back to the eighth century AD and was dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity.The temple was destroyed by Sikandar Shah Miri in a bid to undertake mass conversion and execution of Hindus in the valley.According to Kalhana, the Temple wa... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news?A.In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) has announced the setting up of India’s first dark sky reserve at Hanle in Ladakh in the next three months. Q. What is a Dark Sky Reserve?A. A dark-sky reserve is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory that is kept free of artificial light pollution.The purpose of a dark sky preserve is generally to promote astronomy.Because different national organizations have worked independently to create their programs, different terms hav... Read More...