News: India often confuse toilets with sanitation; but they are mere repositories to receive waste. Poor sanitation and water-related issues resulted in 1.04 million under-five child deaths in India. Also, poor sanitation costs India 5.2 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) annually. In this regard, in the last decade, a massive push for sanitation, provided millions of the population with access to… Continue reading What a waste: Reviving India’s sanitation systems
Author: Amit Kumar
Pay for news: CCI’s Google probe must lead to rules on tech sharing much more revenue with news publishers
News: Competition Commission of India has ordered a probe against Google for its ‘alleged’ abuse of dominant position in news aggregation. This step of Indian government is followed by actions of Australian government. Australia has passed a law that required tech platforms like Google and Facebook to fairly pay local media outlets for showing their content in news feeds or search… Continue reading Pay for news: CCI’s Google probe must lead to rules on tech sharing much more revenue with news publishers
On Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill : Orderly failure options will help Indian financial firms flourish
News: Government is aiming to modify and re-introduce the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill. Government is planning to modify and re-introduce the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill. The bill puts in place a resolution mechanism to deal with the insolvency of firms in the financial sector. The bill was introduced earlier in 2016 but was… Continue reading On Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill : Orderly failure options will help Indian financial firms flourish
The road to regulatory capture isn’t paved with good intentions
News: Regulatory Capture is affecting Indian Economy. Regulatory capture is common in all industry segments that have a sectoral regulator. It is a situation, when act in favor of companies or special interest groups of the sector, instead of protecting and promoting the public interest. One example from US defines regulatory capture perfectly. An addictive medicine OxyContin was labelled by regulator Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a non-… Continue reading The road to regulatory capture isn’t paved with good intentions
Forex party is ending: ON US Fed Balance Sheet Tapering
News: US Federal Reserve (Fed) is increasing the speed of balance sheet tapering. As mentioned in the news, US Federal Reserve (Fed) will double the pace of its balance sheet tapering and end its net asset purchases by mid-March 2022. Balance sheet tapering means gradual slowing of the pace of the Fed’s large scale asset purchases, which was aimed at… Continue reading Forex party is ending: ON US Fed Balance Sheet Tapering
“Plant protection authority sets right its potato blunder”
News: Recently the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Authority has revoked the registration of PepsiCo’s potato variety FL 2027. It was used in the manufacture of its Lay’s chips. This means that farmers can cultivate this variety freely without the threat of penal action for violating intellectual property rights (IPR). What is Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR)… Continue reading “Plant protection authority sets right its potato blunder”
“Zero the way to go”
News: Although India’s waste management policy has evolved to suit the changing needs but there are still some gaps. Waste must become a resource that can be reworked, reused and upcycled. This will minimise the use of materials in our world and mitigate environmental damage. What is the relation b/w the nature of waste with a country’s development status? Nature of… Continue reading “Zero the way to go”
“Household biomass burning- The invisible polluter”
News– Biomass burning despite being a major polluter does not receive the attention it needs. An analysis by think tank Centre for policy research also shows that even in parliamentary debates on pollution ,household biomass burning is discussed much less than stubble burning. Why Biomass burning should be considered a major polluter Biomass burning by households for cooking… Continue reading “Household biomass burning- The invisible polluter”
UPSC CSE Prelims 2021 Answer Key with Questions – GS Paper 1
Dear Friends, Following are the UPSC CSE Prelims 2021 Questions Along with their answers. We will shortly release the answer keys for all the sets: Note: In case, you find any error in the key, you can report the same either in the comment box or through email to ravi@forumias.com Key Updated on – 01st… Continue reading UPSC CSE Prelims 2021 Answer Key with Questions – GS Paper 1
Planetary conjunction of Mars, Venus
Source: The Hindu Contents1 What is the News? 2 What is Conjunction? 3 What is Planetary Conjunction? 4 What is Great Conjunction? What is the News? Earth’s two immediate neighbors Mars and Venus will come closest to each other. This event is called planetary conjunction. What is Conjunction? The conjunction is the name given to any event where planets… Continue reading Planetary conjunction of Mars, Venus
