Q. Why is it in News? A. India has recently supplied 20.60 MT of DDT to South Africa for its Malaria control program. Q. What is DDT and what are its usage? A. Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane commonly known as DDT is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound. It was developed in 1940s as first modern synthetic insecticide. It was initially used with great effect to combat malaria, typhus, and other insect-borne human diseases among... Read More...
HSN code is in news over debate over GST rate for roti and Parotta. Q. What is HSN code? A. HSN is a six-digit code that classifies more than 5000 products, arranged in a legal and logical structure. To achieve uniform classification, the HSN is supported by well-defined rules and is accepted worldwide. Q. What is usage of HSN Code? A. HSN classification is widely used for taxation purposes by helping to identify the rate of tax applicable to a specific product in a country tha... Read More...
Q. What is digital epidemiology? A. Digital epidemiology is the use of data generated outside the public health system for disease surveillance. A new paper has highlighted how several countries have taken digital epidemiology to the next level in responding to COVID-19 in areas such as case detection, contact tracing and isolation. The field is new, but has been growing rapidly owing to increasing amounts of data generated on the internet, particularly on social media With the outbreak of the novel coronaviru... Read More...
Reserve Bank has decided to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMO) for ₹10,000 crores each on July 02, 2020 . Q. What is Open Market Operations? Open market operations are the sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by RBI or the central bank of the country. The objective of OMO is to regulate the money supply in the economy. When the RBI wants to increase the money supply in the economy, it purchases the go... Read More...
Q. What is the PM FME Scheme? A. PM FME Scheme: It aims to provide financial, technical and business support for upgradation of existing micro food processing enterprises It is a centrally sponsored scheme to be implemented over a period of five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore. The expenditure under the scheme would to be shared in 60:40 ratios between Central and State Governments, in 90:10 ratios with NE and the Himalayan States, 60:40 ratio with UTs with the legislature... Read More...
Ministry of Electronics of Information Technology (MeITY) has released a consultation paper on Strategy for National Open Digital Ecosystem (NODE). Q. What is National Open Digital Ecosystem (NODE)/ Lovech 3.0? A. National Open Digital Ecosystem (NODE) or GovTech 3.0 defined as “Open and secure delivery platforms, anchored by transparent governance mechanisms, which enable a technology collaboration among citizens, businesses and governments to transform societal outcomes. Read More...
Q. What is it? A. It is an Integrated Flood Warning System and is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Mumbai is only the second city in the country after Chennai to get this system. Q. How it works? A. The warning system will be able to relay alerts of possible flood-prone areas anywhere between six to 72 hours in advance. Read More...
What are the prerequisites of cashless economy? Access to financial services Macroeconomic (EODB, like large informal economy in India), cultural factors (awareness, digital literacy) Scale and competition in digital payments and FinTech Technology and infrastructure Cashless or less cash economy Arguments in ‘Curse of cash’ book by Keeneth rogoff in favour of less cash eco... Read More...
Why in news? The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2021 at a cost of Rs. 8,754.23 crore and updation of National Population Register (NPR) at a cost of Rs. 3,941.35 crore. What is the census? Census is nothing but a process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, evaluating, publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding the population. It covers demographic, social a... Read More...
Discuss Diamond Quadrilateral Bullet Train Network Project. Also mention the progress in the project so far. 1. In the Railway Budget 2014-15, it was announced to undertake planning of high speed rail connectivity on Diamond Quadrilateral network connecting major metros and growth centres of the country. 2. Accordingly, Ministry of Railways has undertaken feasibility studies for some routes namely Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Kolkata, Mumbai-Chennai, Mumbai-Nagpur and Chennai-Bengaluru-Mysuru. 3. However, being highly ... Read More...
Indian banking sector have been reeling with NPAs, which poses formidable challenge to Indian Economy in terms of investment, jobs, demand and exports. What are NPAs? Non-performing assets, also called non-performing loans, are loans, made by a bank or finance company, on which repayments or interest payments are not being made on time. Generally speaking, NPA is any asset of a bank which is not producing any income. Once the borrower has failed to make interest or principal payments for 90 days the loan is considered to be a non-performing asset. ... Read More...
The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched the Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan Yojana (PM-SYM), a mega pension scheme for unorganised sector. The scheme was announced in the Interim Budget 2019. What is the scheme all about? PM-SYM is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme that will engage as many as 42 crore workers in the unorganised sector. Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan Yojna seeks to provide assured monthly pension of 3000 rupees per month, with a contribution of 100 rupees per... Read More...
What is the amendment about? Personal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019, seeks to remove leprosy as a ground for divorce in five personal laws – Hindu Marriage Act, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, Divorce Act (for Christians), Special Marriage Act and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act. The amendments introduced in the Bill omit the provisions which stigmatise and discriminate against leprosy-affected persons. What did the law say before? The condition under Read More...
Q. Why is it in News? A. Recently, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has criticised the Rajasthan government for its new guidelines on elementary education. Rajasthan’s Department of School Education issued guidelines stating that admissions to private schools under the RTE Act, 2009 for the 2020-21 academic year would take place only from class 1 or above, excluding pre-schoolers (children in the nursery). The guidelines recommend the age of admission to be “5 years or above... Read More...
Q. Why is this in news? Rajya Sabha member has filed a petition with the Chairman of the House seeking to initiate breach of privileges and contempt proceedings against the Chief Minister of Kerala after the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Q. What are Parliamentary privileges? Parliamentary privileges are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament, individually and collectively, so that they can “effectively discharge their functio... Read More...
Why in news? In its boldest gambit yet to stir up the economy, the government in October, 2019, issued an ordinance to reduce the corporate tax rate for domestic firms and new manufacturing units by 10 to 12 percentage points, effectively bringing India’s tax rates on par with its competing Asian peers. Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 replaces the ordinance. This move can be seen in the context of PM’s Independence Day speech, wherein he emphasized on respecting the “Wealth creators” in a country. ... Read More...
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for creation of special Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (FIDF). What is FIDF? It is an estimated fund size of Rs.7,522 crore, comprising Rs.5,266.40 crore to be raised by the Nodal Loaning Entities (NLEs), Rs. 1,316.6 crore beneficiaries contribution and Rs.939.48 crore budgetary support from the Government of India. What is the aim of FIDF?... Read More...
Who is a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO)? A fugitive economic offender has been defined as a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for committing an offence listed in the schedule of the Bill, and the value of the offence is at least Rs 100 crore, and who (i) has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or (ii) being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution”. What is the objective of the Act? The FEO Act aims “to provide for measures to deter fugitive ... Read More...
Why in news? The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved National Mineral Policy 2019. Why the need for new policy (replacing NMP, 2008)? National Mineral Policy 2019 replaces the extant National Mineral Policy 2008 ("NMP 2008") which was announced in the year 2008. The impetus to review NMP 2008 came about by way of a direction from the Supreme Court judgment dated 02.08.2017 (Common Cause v/s Union of India & Others). Read More...
Why in news? German pharma company Bayer is facing thousands of lawsuits over one of its products. A Reuters report said 42,700 plaintiffs in the US are blaming Bayer’s herbicides for their cancer, up from 18,400 plaintiffs in July this year. In August, a jury in California said that Monsanto (the company which Bayer acquired in 2018), should have warned of the alleged cancer risks. Bayer is claiming, however, that it has strong support from US farmers who want the company to keep the product. Read More...