Q. What is the Inter-State Council?A.The Inter-State Council is a mechanism that was constituted “to support Centre-State and Inter-State coordination and cooperation in India”.It was established under Article 263 of the Constitution, which states that the President may constitute such a body if a need is felt for it.The Council is basically meant to serve as a forum for discussions among various state governments. Q. What about Its establishment?A. In 1988, the Sarkaria Commis... Read More...
Q What is Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) ?A ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.Subhash Palekar perfected it during the 1990s at his farm in Amravati district in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Vidarbha region.According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy are already present in nature.&... Read More...
Q What is Facial Recognition Technology ?A It is a biometric technology that uses distinctive features of the face to identify and distinguish an individual. Over a period of almost 6 decades, it has evolved in many ways- from looking at 3D contours of a face to recognizing skin patterns. Q How does it work? AThe facial recognition system works primarily by capturing the face & its features through the camera and then using various kinds of software to reconstruct those features.The captured face along with its features is stored int... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news ?A.The Central government has announced a special tourist circuit encompassing five key sites associated with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.Activists have urged that Mahad, located in Raigad District of Maharashtra, famous for Mahad Lake Satyagraha should also be included in the proposed circuit. Q. What is Ambedkar Circuit?A. The five cities in the tourist circuit as announced are Mhow (his birthplace), London (where he resided and studied), Nagpur (also studied here), Delhi (where he passed away) and finally Mumbai (where he was cremated)... Read More...
Q. What is the background for it ?A. SEBI constituted a working group (WG) on social stock exchanges. This Working Group outlined its vision and made recommendations, which include participation of non-profit organisations (NPO) and for-profit enterprises (FPE) on SSE subject to committing to minimum reporting requirements,” the survey noted.It has recommended standardisation of financial reporting by NPOs on SSE. Q. What did survey said?A. In terms of the recommendations of the Working Group , there is a need to develop a framework for on... Read More...
Q. What is Carbon Footprint ?A.Carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases-especially carbon dioxide-released into the atmosphere by a particular human activity. Q. How does the app Carbon Watch work?A.As a person downloads the application, they will need to fill details in four parts — Water, Energy, Waste Generation and Transport (Vehicular movement). In the category of Water, the person will be required to inform about the consumption of water. In the Energy category, the details regarding the electricity units c... Read More...
Q. What is Purple Revolution (Under Aroma Mission)?A. About: First-time farmers were given free lavender saplings and those who have cultivated lavender before were charged Rs. 5-6 per sapling.Aim:To support domestic aromatic crop based agro economy by moving from imported aromatic oils to homegrown varieties. Products:Main product is Lavender oil which sells for at least Rs. 10,000 per litreLavender water, which ... Read More...
Q What is meant by seed funding ? A It typically represents the first official money that a business venture or enterprise raises.It helps a company to finance its first steps, including things like market research and product development.There are many potential investors in a seed funding situation: founders, friends, family, incubators, venture capital companies and more.One of the most common types of investors participating in seed funding is a so-called "angel investor."Angel investors tend to appreciate riskier ventures (such as startups with little by way of a proven tr... Read More...
Q. What is Waste Water?A. About:Wastewater is the polluted form of water generated from rainwater runoff and human activities and is also called sewage.It is typically categorized by the manner in which it is generated—specifically, as domestic sewage, industrial sewage, or storm sewage (stormwater).Normally, raw sewage dumped into a water body can clean itself through a natural process of stream cleaning and self-purification.But the rise in population, as well as large-scale urbanization, has led to... Read More...
Q .What are Committees of Parliament?A. About:A Parliamentary Committee is a panel of MPs that is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the Speaker/Chairman.The committee works under the direction of the Speaker/chairman and it presents its report to the House or to the Speaker/chairman.Parliamentary Committees have their origins in the British Parliament.They draw their authority from Article 105 and Article 118.Article 105 deals with the privileges of MPs.Article 118 gives Parliam... Read More...
Q. What is NavIC?A. About:NavIC or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is designed with a constellation of 7 satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24×7.There are a total of eight satellites however only seven remain active.Three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in geosynchronous orbit.The constellations' first satellite (IRNSS-1A) was launched on 1st July 2013 and the eighth satellite IRNSS-1I was launched in April 2018.With the seventh launch of the con... Read More...
Q. What is Carbon Dating?A. Carbon dating, also called radiocarbon dating is method of age determination that depends upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (Carbon-14).This method was developed by the American physicist Willard F. Libby about 1946.Carbon-14 is continually formed in nature by the interaction of neutrons with nitrogen-14 in the Earth’s atmosphere.The neutrons required for this reaction are produced by cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere. Q. How it works?A. Radiocarbon present in molecules of atm... Read More...
Q. What is Biomass Co-firing?A. About:Biomass co-firing is the practice of substituting a part of the fuel with biomass at coal thermal plants.Coal and biomass are combusted together in boilers that have been designed to burn coal. For this purpose, the existing coal power plant has to be partly reconstructed and retrofitted.Co-firing is an option to convert biomass to electricity, in an efficient and clean way, and to reduce GHG (Green house Gases) emissions of the power plant.Biomass co-firing is a globally accepted cost-... Read More...
Q What is a Rating Agency? A Rating agencies assess the creditworthiness or potential of an equity, debt or country. Their reports are read by investors to make an informed decision on whether or not to invest in a particular country or companies in that geography. They assess if a country, equity or debt is financially stable and whether it at a low/high default risk. In simpler terms, these reports help investors gauge if they would get a return on their investment. Q What do they do? A Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, physicists working with the Kamioka Liquid Scintillator Antineutrino Detector (KamLAND) in Japan reported that after analysing two years’ data, they could not find signs that neutrinos could be their own anti-particles. Q. What was the Experiment?A. KamLAND looks for an event called neutrinoless double beta-decay.In normal double beta-decay, two neutrons in an atom turn into two protons by emitting two electrons and two e... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, Fermi energy has gained significant attention due to its wide range of daily practical applications in various fields, driven by the principles of quantum physics. Q. What is Quantum Physics?A. Quantum physics is the branch of physics that deals with the behavior and properties of the smallest particles of matter and energy, such as atoms, electrons, photons, and quarks.Quantum physics reveals that th... Read More...
Q What is Mission Samudrayan ?A The Samudrayan project has been undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).It will be a part of the Rs 6,000 crore Deep Ocean Mission.It is designed to carry 3 persons in 2.1meter diameter Titanium Alloy Personnel Sphere with an operational endurance of 12hrs and systems to support emergency endurance up to 96hrs.It could work at a depth between 1000 and 5500 meters. Q What are its Objectives ?A Samudrayan shall facilitate carrying out deep ocean exploration of the n... Read More...
Q. Why is this in News?A. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the policy rates unchanged, taking into account the evolving macroeconomic situation.This is the second consecutive pause after a previous conservative rate hike of 250 basis points aimed at curbing inflation.The decision reflects a cautious approach to balance inflation management and support economic growth. ... Read More...
Q. What is the Museums Grant Scheme?A.About:The scheme was launched in 2013.The Ministry of Culture provides financial assistance under the Scheme to the State Governments and Societies, Autonomous bodies, Local Bodies and Trusts registered under the Societies Act 1860, for setting up new Museums.It aims to strengthen and modernize the existing museums at the Regional, State and District level.The scheme also aims to develop at least 1 Central / State Government Museum located in t... Read More...