Q What is the context ?A The latest order in Rahul Ramesh Wagh v. State of Maharashtra &Ors makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be followed across the country.Q What is the background of the Case ? AMaharashtra had constituted a Commission to ascertain the backwardness of OBCs in June 2021.But without waiting for an empirical report, an ordinance was promulgated to amend the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads Act, Panchayat Samitis Act and the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act. Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A The iconic Amar Jawan Jyoti (AJJ) at India Gate was extinguished as a part of its merger with the flame at the National War Memorial (NWM). This has sparked a political controversy.Q What is the Amar Jawan Jyoti?A The eternal flame at the Amar Jawan Jyoti underneath India Gate in central Delhi was an iconic symbol of the nation’s tributes to the soldiers who have died for the country in various wars and conflicts since Independence.Established in 1972, it was to mark India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 War Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A Recent developments warrant a comprehensive review of border management to ensure the all-weather security of our borders.Q What makes India’s border management difficult?A India shares land borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, which stretch approximately 15,106 km.In addition, we have an approximately 3,323 km-long LoC with Pakistan, which further extends to the rechristened 110 km stretch of “Actual Ground Position Line” (AGPL) dividing the Siachen glacier region. Read More...
Q What is the context ?A The Supreme Court has pronounced its decision upholding the constitutional validity of providing 27% quota to Other Backward Classes (OBC) in NEET All India Quota (AIQ) seats for UG and PG medical courses.Q What is the issue?A The petitioners, several NEET aspirants, had argued that since the top court had limited reservation to 50% in the Indira Sawhney judgment, the government should have first applied to the court before tinkering with the quota calculations.The court further confirmed that there was no need for the Centre to have got the pri... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A The Central Government has proposed four amendments to Rule 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954 dealing with deputation, and has sought the views of State governments before January 25, 2022.Q What is the historical background of All India Services ?A It was Sardar Patel who had championed the creation of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS) as “All India Services” (AIS) whose members would be recruited and appointed by the Centre and allotted to various States, and who c... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.Q What are some details about Nusantara ?A The New State Capital Law Bill has been drafted by a special committee set up by Widodo’s government and makes Nusantara, also called IKN, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia.The transfer of the status of Jakarta as Indonesia’s capital to Nusantara, where 256,142 hectares of land has been set aside for the project, will t... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A Air India said Boeing had cleared its B777 aircraft for flights to the US following concerns that the 5G roll-out there could interfere with critical aircraft functions.Q What is 5G Technology?A 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.It’s a unified platform which is much more capable than previous mobile services with more capacity, lower latency, faster data delivery rate and better utilization of spectrum.Q How can 5G affect flight safety?A&... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Recently PM Modi has made a special address ahead of the theme-setting World Economic Forum (WEF) Agenda on the ‘State of the World’ at Davos.Q What is World Economic Forum (WEF) ?AWEF is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab.The foundation, which is mostly funded by its 1,000 member companies – typically global enterprises with more than five billion US dollars in turnover – as well as... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano which massively erupted lies along the Pacific ‘Ring of fire’, and is just over 60 kilometers from the island nation of Tonga.Q What is the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’?A The Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ or Pacific rim, or the Circum-Pacific Belt, is an area along the Pacific Ocean that is characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin form the so-called Ring of Fire.It is home to about 75 per cent of the world’s volcanoe... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report published in The Lancet provides the most comprehensive estimate of the global impact of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) so far.Q What is AMR?A Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbeAntibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process.A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorr... Read More...
Today's Current Affairs Question:India’s mangroves along the Bengal coastline, already at risk due to climate change, sea-level rise and land-use changes, are beginning to erode. What should be done and why? Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A Some researchers in New Delhi have observed paradoxical phenomena near the smog towers. The air closest to the tower should be cleanest, but the device recorded the opposite in several instances.Q What are Smog Towers?A Smog towers are structures designed to work as large-scale air purifiers. They are fitted with multiple layers of air filters and fans at the base to suck the air.After the polluted air enters the smog tower, it is purified by multiple layers before being re-circulated into the atmosphere.Q What is is Structure of th... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Recently a suspected drone attack in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, caused multiple explosions in which three Indians were reportedly killed.Q Who is behind the attack?A The Shia Houthi rebels of Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack.Q Who are the Houthis?A The roots of the Houthi movement can be traced to “Believing Youth” (Muntada al-Shahabal-Mu’min).It is a Zaydi revivalist group founded by Hussein al-Houthi and his father, Badr al-Din al-Houthi, in the ea... Read More...
Today's Current Affairs Question:How can Ukraine imbroglio can impact India and what should be our position? Read More...
Q Why is it in News ? A A recent report by the RBI shows that India received support of $17.86 billion in August 2021 by way of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) has helped cushion the worsening current account deficit. Q What are Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)? A SDRs, created by the IMF in 1969, are an international reserve asset and are meant to supplement countries’ reserves. Adding SDRs to the country’s international r... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Karnataka CM has said irrigation projects are bogged down by river water sharing disputes and asked the Centre to ‘revisit the Inter-State River Water Disputes (IWRD) Act since the law is creating more disputes than resolving them’.Q What are some details about IWRD Act ?A The IWRD Act, 1956 aims to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river or river valley.Article 262 of the Indian Constitution provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-... Read More...
Q Why is it in News ?A Recently, West Bengal’s tableau for the Republic Day parade was rejected without assigning any reasons or justifications.Q Who manages the R-Day Parade?A The Defence Ministry is the responsible authority for the Republic Day parade and the celebrations.Around September, it invites all the states, the UTs, Central Government departments, and a few constitutional authorities to participate in the parade through tableaux.Q Which Department Manages Tableaux ?A The Defence Ministry shar... Read More...
Q What is the context ?A Recently, the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine announced that it had successfully transplanted a genetically-modified pig heart into a patient with severe ailments.Q What is Xenotransplantation?A Xenotransplantation, or transplanting organs across different species, was first tried in humans in the 1980s.The experiment was abandoned after the famous case of the American Baby Fae who was born with a congenital heart defect and received a baboon heart in 1984.However, pig heart valves have been used for replacing damaged valves in h... Read More...
Today's Current Affairs Question:Differentiate between negative and positive liberty with Indian examples. What role does State have in this matter? Read More...
Q Why is it in News ? A India’s trade with China in 2021 crossed $125 billion, with imports from China nearing a record $100 billion, underlining continued demand for a range of Chinese goods, particularly machinery. Q What are the highlights of the bilateral trade ? A Bilateral trade reached $125.6 billion in 2021, with India’s imports from China accounting for $97.5 billion. Trade fell from $92.8 billion in 2019 to $87.6 billion in 2020 on account of the pandemic. Trade has boomed in 2021 thanks to a recovery in demand as well as ris... Read More...