News: Hyderabad police recently caught a man with around 2,000 fingerprints of separate individuals that were being used to purchase SIM cards, create bank accounts, and then engineer more frauds. Widespread use of biometrics Smaller public and private entities have now taken to biometrics with passion. Bengaluru Metro is mulling a facial recognition-based pass and… Continue reading Finger in every pie: Regular theft of biometric data shows how lax information storage is and why we need a strong law
Category: 9 PM Daily Articles
Controlling the hard sell
News: ‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’ have been notified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). These guidelines have been long overdue. What are the key provisions under the new rules? Under the new rules, – Penalties for misleading advertisements have been linked to the definition of such… Continue reading Controlling the hard sell
The FATF and Pakistan’s position on its ‘grey list’
Context: Ahead of the plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in Berlin, Pakistan is hoping for a removal of its name from the FATF’s ‘grey list’ or the list of countries presenting a risk to the global financial system. In its last plenary meeting in March, the FATF had retained Pakistan’s listing,… Continue reading The FATF and Pakistan’s position on its ‘grey list’
What has Rajya Sabha achieved that a stand-alone Lok Sabha has not, or would not?
News: Constituent Assembly was divided on the opinion on establishing Rajya Sabha. That debate still holds relevance even after so many years. What are the arguments against the establishment and functioning of the Rajya Sabha? Lokanath Misra in the Constituent Assembly was of the opinion that, a) It will not serve any useful purpose, b)… Continue reading What has Rajya Sabha achieved that a stand-alone Lok Sabha has not, or would not?
NSS, CMIE are surveys not comparable. Studies should not relate them
News: Recently, policy advisors and researchers at the IMF and World Bank have also attempted to estimate headcount ratios under various assumptions. About the recent poverty measurements by IMF and World Bank The IMF method: It carried out the exercise using adjustments for private final consumption expenditure from the National Accounts Statistics and also using… Continue reading NSS, CMIE are surveys not comparable. Studies should not relate them
Misery Index
Misery index is a simple sum of a nation’s annual inflation rate and its unemployment rate. The higher the index, the more the misery felt by average citizens. The first Misery Index was constructed by economist Art Okun in the 1960s. The Index has been modified several times, first by Robert Barro of Harvard and… Continue reading Misery Index
How India Got Her Top Guns
Context: In 1940/50s Indian Air Force (IAF) undertook air combat tactics and training through the Royal Air Force. Evolution of IAF Training In the post-independent India, The Indian Air Force (IAF) has sent pilots abroad (like the UK) to undergo the Pilot Attack Instructors (PAI) course. These pilots were required to pass on their knowledge… Continue reading How India Got Her Top Guns
‘Microbes cause Earth to function — from plants to humans, we all live due to microbial activity’
What is the News? This article talks about why microbes are essential to life and the threat it faces from climate change. Why are Microbes essential to Earth’s species? Source: TOI Microbial activities are foundational for the functioning of our planet. Without microbes, there is no chance that plants, animals, or humans would have ever… Continue reading ‘Microbes cause Earth to function — from plants to humans, we all live due to microbial activity’
India is not the fastest growing big economy
News: Recently, the Provisional Estimates of Annual National Income in 2021-22 was released. It showed that India’s GDP grew 8.7% in real terms and 19.5% in nominal terms (including inflation) which made India the fastest growing major economy in the world. What are the problematic areas in the present GDP estimation? As per data, Indian… Continue reading India is not the fastest growing big economy
What India is doing to tackle its water crisis?
Context: Although India has 16% of the world’s population, the country possesses only 4% of the world’s freshwater resources. India is water-stressed due to changing weather patterns and repeated droughts. But it looks like the country has finally got its act together and several measures are now in place to conserve and rejuvenate our water… Continue reading What India is doing to tackle its water crisis?
