What is PM VDY? Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) is a Market Linked Tribal Entrepreneurship Development Program for forming clusters of tribal SHGs (Van Dhan Vikas Kendras) and strengthening them into Tribal Producer Companies has been launched with participation from all the 27 States from the Country. Tribal producer companies are similar to Farmer producer companies in their conception, aim is to increase bargaining power and income of primary producer through value addition and larger share in value chain through enhanced bargaining power. Read More...
About? The Indian government announced the ‘Make in India’ initiative to encourage manufacturing in India and galvanise the economy with dedicated investments in manufacturing and services in 2014. What were its objectives and How it has Performed? Read More...
(Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Assessment) What? SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region. According to this vision, India would do everything to safeguard its mainland and islands and defend its interests. Further, India will also work to ensure a safe, secure and stable Indian Ocean region (IOR). Read More...
What does the Act say? The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 prohibits insult to the country's national symbols, including the National Flag, the Constitution, the National Anthem and map of India. This act is applied in a case of insult, public or not, as well as intentional or otherwise. Whoever in any public place or in any other place within public view shows disrespect shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. Read More...
The Parliament passed the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019 to increase the strength of the Supreme Court to thirty-three (33), excluding the Chief Justice of India, from the previous sanctioned strength of 30 judges and CJI. It was passed as a money bill. It was an amendment to the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. Why is the amendment being made to raise the strength? It is to deal with the constant rise in the pendency of cases. Read More...
What is the importance of nutrition? Nutrition is central to human development. Childhood and adolescent undernutrition undermines survival, growth and development, and diminishes the strength and resilience of communities and countries around the world. Micronutrient deficiencies are an important cause of morbidity and mortality especially in infants and preschool children. What is Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS)? The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) is the first nationally representati... Read More...
Union Home Minister chaired the Northern Zonal Council meeting in Chandigarh recently. What are Zonal Councils? After the States Reorganisation Act 1956, there was a felt need to create bodies by an Act of parliament where the regional states and Centre could meet and solve relevant issues Zonal Councils Act was made to create advisory councils to foster federal cooperation. How many are there? Five Zonal Councils are there Read More...
What is the context? Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in the ancient coastal town of Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu for a second Informal Summit. The two countries convened their first Informal Summit in central China’s Wuhan in April 2018, where they exchanged views on issues of global and bilateral significance. Read More...
Whis is Balwant Singh Rajoana in news? Balwant Singh Rajoana was given death sentence for assassinating former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. He had not moved a mercy petition seeking clemency from the President of India. Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) sought mercy for him without his approval. Rajoana was to be hanged on 31 March. President commuted the death sentence under Article 72 of the Constitution. What does it mean? ... Read More...
About: The Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a Sun-observing satellite, developed by the Read More...
Brief history of India- Myanmar relation India and Myanmar has relation from pre independence times. (Role of national freedom fighter). But post-independence, relationship officially got underway after the Treaty of Friendship that was signed in 1951. Relations got strained because of Military rule in getting established in Myanmar for long. Myanmar was diplomatically isolated except by china that maintained its relationship. It was the “L... Read More...
To promote the use of biopesticides in agriculture, Central Insecticide Board & Registration Committee has formulated simplified guidelines for registration of biopesticides as compared to chemical pesticides. During provisional registration granted under Section 9 (3B) of The Insecticides Act, 1968, the applicant is allowed to commercialize the bio-pesticides, unlike chemical pesticides. What are the various Govt schemes to promote eco-friendly Agriculture? Read More...
Why is it in the news? CCEA approved a Central Sector Scheme for "Formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) " to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs. Background: The Report on 'Doubling of Farmers’ Income (DFI)' has recommended format... Read More...
Context: Water being a State subject, initiatives on sustainable water management including conservation and water harvesting in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility. However, the important measures are taken by the Central Government for conservation, management of groundwater and effective implementation of rainwater harvesting in the country. Read More...
Why was the Act made? The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is made for reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh. What are the its main features? It has the following features: Lieutenant Governor: Both the Union Territories will be administered by the President, through an administrator appointed by him known as the Lieuten... Read More...
What is the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)? The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was created in 1889, in an era when there were no established means for governments, parliaments or MPs to work together internationally. The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. Its membership includes 179 Member Parliaments. Its slogan is “For democracy. For everyone.” What does it do? The IPU is the global organiz... Read More...
The Global Competitiveness Report is an annual report published by the World Economic Forum. Since 2004, the Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index. The Global Competitiveness Index integrates the macroeconomic and the micro/business aspects of competitiveness into a single index. What is the aim of the report? The report "assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens". This in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources. To this e... Read More...
Who are the Kurds? Kurds make up the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, but they have never obtained a permanent nation state. Between 25 and 35 million Kurds inhabit a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They inhabit south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and south-western Armenia. Today, they form a distinctive community, united through race, culture and language. Majority are Sunni Muslims. Why are Kurds fighting Islam... Read More...
Why is it in news? India’s Vishnu Nandan is selected to be a member of the 300-researcher group, largest ever, working on Arctic expedition. What is MOSAiC Expedition? The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition is a one-year-long expedition into the Central Arctic, taking place from 2019 September to 2020. For the first time a modern research icebreaker will operate in the direct vicinity of the Nort... Read More...
What is Keeladi (Keezhadi) excavation? In 2013-14, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) carried out explorations in 293 sites along the Vaigai river valley in Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts. Keezhadi in Sivaganga district was chosen for excavation and artefacts were unearthed by the ASI in the second phase of the excavation. This is a large-scale excavation carried out in Tamil Nadu after the Adichanallur archaeological site. What did it show? It pointed to an an... Read More...