Author: ForumIAS

M777 broke due to faulty shell: Context A preliminary investigation has found faulty ammunition to be the cause of the accident involving an M777 ultra-light Howitzer during firing trials early this month. What was the cause? A preliminary inquiry has found that the explosion took place due to faulty ammunition supplied by the Ordnance Factory… Continue reading M777 broke due to faulty shell:

The faltering economy: Context Last week, the current account deficit (CAD) widened to a four-year high. A set of weak economic numbers has left the Central government scrambling to do something to set things in order. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week promised appropriate action to revive the economy. A set of weak economic numbers… Continue reading The faltering economy:

All you need to know about Graded Surveillance Measure: Context SEBI introduced the measure to keep a check on securities that witness an abnormal price rise that is not commensurate with financial health and fundamentals of the company such as earnings, book value, price to earnings ratio among others. Why did SEBI bring in the… Continue reading All you need to know about Graded Surveillance Measure:

Who’s lending to Indian businesses?: Brief overview Banks share in the new credit have fell in FY1. Corporate bond issuances have rose 56% and NBFCs have lent more. Abou RBI’s annual report The banks are busy chipping away at their mountain of bad loans and operating on precarious levels of capital. Reserve Bank of India’s… Continue reading Who’s lending to Indian businesses?:

‘GSTN tweaked features, handled robust return filing’: Portal handled 1.3 lakh tax return filings and payments per hour on last day. Context: Efficiency in Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) What is GSTN? A private company which manages the IT infrastructure of the new tax regime – GST What is the news all about? GSTN… Continue reading ‘GSTN tweaked features, handled robust return filing’:

Tech boost for soil quality scheme: Context: The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is looking to link the programme with a research project at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay that uses sophisticated imaging techniques and can picture the nutrient balance of a patch of land without necessarily collecting soil sample. Technology used Hyper… Continue reading Tech boost for soil quality scheme:

Japan keen on friendship with northeast: Context At the fourth Northeast Connectivity Summit in Kohima from September 22 to 23, a representative of the Embassy of Japan said Tokyo would invest in the region’s infrastructure, education and people-to-people sectors. Why northeastern region? The northeastern region is located at a strategically and economically important juncture between… Continue reading Japan keen on friendship with northeast:

Private players may run rail lines: Context The Union government is open to the idea of giving operations of railway lines to private players for enhancing competition. What is the proposition? Doing so will allow to generate competition in the process and improve customer satisfaction. Various models Mr. Goyal, the Railway Ministry is studying various… Continue reading Private players may run rail lines:

Afghan overture:  Context Recently india has decided to expand security assistance to afghanistan which gave nuanced political message to various countries Assistance india is providing to Afghanistan India’s plans to expand its security assistance to Afghanistan by training police officers in India as part of a UNDP project. By training police officers and hundreds of… Continue reading Afghan overture: