CURRENT AFFAIRS DESTINATION FOR UPSC & STATE CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATIONS
Why in the News? The Central Government led by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on November 23, 2019 invoked Rule 12 of the “Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961”, empowering it to revoke the proclamation of President’s Rule in Maharashtra without prior approval of the Union Cabinet. What are the provisions of Rule 12? To meet a situation of extreme urgency or unforeseen contingency in any particular Read More …
Why in the News? Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled the citizenship of TRS MLA from Vemulawada in north Telangana Chennamaneni Ramesh. His citizenship has been cancelled on the ground of misrepresentation of facts at the time of applying for citizenship in 2008. What is the issue? C. Ramesh-a son of freedom fighter parents, had been living in Germany since 1993, applied for Indian citizenship on March 31, 2008 and Read More …
Government has approved the hybrid annuity model (HAM) for building National Highways (NH) to speed up the construction of roads in the country by renewing interest of private developers in highway projects. 40% the Project Cost is to be provided by the Government as Construction Support during the construction period and the balance 60% as annuity payments over the operations period along with interest thereon to the concessionaire. Objective National Read More …
A tiny species of wasp discovered in Mexico which kills an invasive pest threatening crops has been named after British actor Idris Elba. In this way, noted actor Idris Elba has earned a pointed honor for his role as Norse gatekeeper Heimdall in Marvel’s Thor movies. The wasp was found living as a parasite in the eggs of another insect, known as the bagrada bug, which is a major pest of cruciferous vegetables. Read More …
Why in the News? Recently, Goa protested over a reported Central nod to Karnataka to go ahead with the Kalasa-Banduri project which aims at providing drinking water to three north Karnataka districts by diverting Mahadayi water. About Mahadayi River? Mahadayi river rises from the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Khanapur taluk of Karnataka’s Belagavi district. River Mahadayi is Spread across the Districts of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. It flows for a Read More …
Why in the News? The Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy informed the Lok Sabha on November 19, 2019 that The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project will be operational by December 31, 2020. What is it? National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is an ambitious counter terrorism programme, which will utilise technologies like Big Data and analytics to study and analyse the huge amounts of data from various intelligence and Read More …
Why in the News? In the recent crisis at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank Ltd, depositors were allowed to withdraw limited amount from their respective accounts. Now government is planning to raise the insurance cover provided to depositors. What is it? The government of India has set up Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) under RBI to protect depositors if a bank fails. Currently, in the event of Read More …
Why in in the News? More than 15,000 migratory birds have died so far at the country’s largest inland water saltwater lake near Jaipur in Rajasthan due to botulism. What is it? Botulism- a paralytic disease is a natural toxin produced by a bacterium (Clostridium botulinum ) commonly found in the soil. There are several types of botulism toxin some of which can affect humans who eat improperly canned foods. Read More …
Why in the News? Recently Bhutan said that it plans to levy charges on tourists from regional countries, including India, Bangladesh and Maldives, who at present are exempted from any charges. What is it? The principle of “high value, low volume” has been the overall Bhutan’s tourism policy since 1974, which later changed to “high value, low impact” in 2008. The essence of this policy is that Bhutan will monitor Read More …
Why in the news? The five member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, observed that the said act has preserved the constitutional value of secularism by not permitting the status of a place of worship to be changed. What does the act mean? The Places of Worship Act 1991 was passed during the first year of the P.V. Narasimha Rao government in September 1991. Read More …
Why in the news? The topic was in the news as the Supreme Court referred the Sabarimala temple case to a larger 7-judge Bench. What does it mean? The doctrine of “essentiality” was first used by a 7-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the ‘Shirur Mutt’ case in 1954. The apex court held that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion, and took Read More …
