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GS 2
India must be prepared for the potential consequences of withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan
As per the recently disclosed study, only 32% of Child Care Institutions or Homes were registered under the JJ Act as of 2016, while an equal number were unregistered, and the rest were either empanelled under other schemes or awaiting registration.
‘Data protection law finalised’
Mr. Prasad said the government was in the process of finalising guidelines for social media intermediaries such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Google and WhatsApp.
Lokpal search panel set up, govt. tells SC
The government informed the Supreme Court on Friday that a eight-member search committee has been constituted in September 2018 for zeroing in on eligible candidates for Lokpal and the anti-corruption authority will frame its own rules of functioning. The panel is led by former Supreme Court judge, Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai.
GS 3
Open defecation continues unabated
New research on the impact of the Swachh Bharat Mission in the rural parts of four northern States shows that while open defecation has fallen and toilet ownership has increased, the percentage of people who owned toilets but continued to defecate in the open has remained unchanged between 2014 and 2018.
‘Seven cities have tackled faecal sludge’
These cities have 100% of their faecal matter treated by sewage treatment plants or faecal sludge treatment plants. They are also free of open defecation and open urination, with at least 25% of the community and public toilets in excellent condition.
‘Precarious family milieu forces children to homes’
Most children at childcare institutions are not orphans, but belong to family structures that are unable to look after them such as those that are headed by unwed mothers, abandoned wives, widows and in some cases single fathers, shows a pan-India study conducted under this aegis of the Women and Child Development Ministry.
Stock markets across the world had very little reason to celebrate in 2018. They witnessed the return of extreme volatility after many years, and most of them recorded their worst performance in a decade.
Chinese lunar rover named as ‘Yutu 2’
The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the Yutu-2 touched the lunar surface at 10:22 p.m. local time on Thursday, leaving a trace on the loose lunar soil. The rover’s touchdown is part of China Chang’e-4 lunar probe.
China tests its ‘Mother of All Bombs’
China’s defence industry giant NORINCO for the first time showcased the aerial bomb, the country’s largest non-nuclear bomb, state-run Global Times reported.
