What is Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and when was it launched? In September 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Coalition for Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in New York, US. It has a secretariat in Delhi, supported by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), to enable knowledge exchange, technical support and capacity building. What does it seek to do? The CDRI involves consultations with more... Read More...
How many Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are there and under which Union Ministry do they fall? The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) are seven and come under the authority of Union Ministry of Home Affairs. They are the, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Read More...
What are Social Stock Exchanges? In the Union Budget in July 2019, Finance Minister proposed a social stock exchange for social enterprises and voluntary organisations working for social welfare to help them raise capital through debt, equity and mutual fund. Which committee is set up for it and who heads it? The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has constituted a working... Read More...
What is logistics? Logistics is the process of planning and executing the efficient transportation and storage of goods from the point of origin to the point of storage and consumption. The goal of logistics is to meet customer requirements in a timely and cost-effective manner. It is a key parameter in deciding the trade competitiveness of a state or country. What is LEADS? The Logis... Read More...
Why the New draft National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP), 2019? Currently, India generates about 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW). Waste generation in cities is increasing by 5% each year because of growing population and consumption. With poor systems of segregation, recycling and reuse, wastes including hazardous wastes (includes biomedical, plastics, domestic hazardous wastes and e-wastes) are improperly disposed, endangering the environment and human health. Read More...
Why are we talking about it? Recently, India’s defence minister commented that India’s no first use policy of nuclear weapons is subject to ‘circumstances’. What is the ‘No First Use’ Policy? No first use (NFU) refers to a pledge or a policy by a nuclear power not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare&nbs... Read More...
Why in news? Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pitch for India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New York in September 2019. Who are the NSG countries? Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear - those with nuclear technology for civilian or civilian and military purposes, countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by cont... Read More...
As warm water flows northwards in the Atlantic, it cools, while evaporation increases its salt content. Low temperature and a high salt content raise the density of the water, causing it to sink deep into the ocean. The cold, dense water deep below slowly spreads southward eventually, it gets pulled back to the surface and warms again, and the circulation is complete. This continual mixing of the oceans, and distribution of heat and energy around t... Read More...
What was the fiscal stimulus package on September 20th? President of India promulgated the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019 to make certain amendments in the Income-tax Act 1961 and the Finance Act 2019 which are: A new provision has been inserted in the Income-tax Act with effect from FY 2019-20 which allows any domestic company an option to pay income-tax at the rate of 22% subject to condition that they will not avail any exemption/incentive. The effect... Read More...
The sixth edition of The Ziro Butterfly Meet was held recently at Sabansari district in Arunachal Pradesh. The four-day event featured workshops on butterfly watching, butterfly photography, and the significance of butterflies in the ecosystem for students and local attendees. The first Ziro Butterfly Meet, held in 2013, had drawn the attention of butterfly enthusiasts all over the world when the rare and elusive Kaiser-e-Hind was photographed live for the first time in India. The sixth meet r... Read More...
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is asking handset makers who are manufacturing in India to provide the unique identification numbers of their devices to the government within the next two months, citing security imperatives. Govt has asked device makers to share IMEI numbers within two months. The move is likely to help curb increasing mobile crimes in the country. What is an IMEI? The I... Read More...
Supreme Court, NGOs and RTI What was the Supreme Court ruling about NGOs being a public authority? Supreme court said that Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) receiving substantial financing from the government are bound to give information to the public under the Right to Information (RTI) Act because they are a public authority under the provisions of the Act .Institutions like schools, colleges and hospitals which receive substantial aid from the gove... Read More...
What are terms of reference to the Finance Commission? As given in Art.280 of the Constitution, the President of India may refer any matter for the opinion of the FC. It reads as follows: any other matter referred to the Commission by the President in the interests of sound finance. It is called terms of reference (ToR). FC is expected to make its recommendations keeping the Presidential terms of reference in consideration. What took place in July 201... Read More...
What are they? • The scheme of IoE was rolled out by University Grants Commission (UGC). Nominations have been made on the recommendations of Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) headed by N Gopalaswami. • In September 2019, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, on the advice of UGC and the Empowered Expert Committee issued orders to 5 public Universities conveying their declaration ... Read More...
What is Malnutrition? Malnutrition is a pathological state resulting from a relative or absolute deficiency or excess of one or more essential nutrients. What are the indicators of malnutrition? Indicators Nutritional status Stunting (low height for-age) Chronic under nutrition ... Read More...
Madhya Pradesh is planning to sell Kadaknath chicken meat at milk outlets to cater to the growing demand. The government has launched the project on a pilot basis. So what is Kadakhnath? Kadaknath or Kali Masi is a breed of chicken originating from the Jhabua and Dhar districts of western Madhya Pradesh. Why is it important? Read More...
What is Far East? In general, the Far East as a geographical term refers to East Asia (including Northeast Asia), the Russian Far East (part of North Asia), and Southeast Asia. The Russian Far East comprises the Russian part of the Far East, the easternmost territory of Russia, between Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean. Why did India launch Look East Policy in 1991?... Read More...
What is EQUINOO? Equatorial Indian Ocean Oscillation (EQUINOO) is considered to be the atmospheric component of the Indian Ocean dipole mode. EQUINOO is defined as the oscillation between a state in which the convection/precipitation is enhanced over Western Equatorial Indian Ocean (WEIO) and suppressed over the Eastern Equatorial Indian Ocean EEIO convection/precipitation is enhanced over EEIO and that in which convection/precipitation is enhanced over EEIO and suppressed over WEIO. Although the distinguishing attribute of EQUINOO is the see-saw... Read More...
Context: The Visakhapatnam gas leak highlights the need for industries to be extra cautious while starting production after the lockdown. News: The Gas leak incident at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, in the early morning of May 7, 2020, was not the only industrial accident in the country that day. Read More...