Good Morning Friends,
You asked for it, so we are bringing to you the second edition of Facts in News.(FIN )
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ForumIAS.com
| Bills, Programs, Policies, Schemes, Orders, Judgements | |
| Income > 10 Lakh = No LPG Subsidy | ● New directive by Govt Says if income > 10 lakh no LPG subsidy
● Earlier this was voluntary under Give It Up Scheme where people could by choice give up Subsidy |
| National Court of Appeal | ● A National Court of Appeal (NCA) with regional benches is being considered to be final court of appeal in all civil and Criminal Cases
● Supreme Court Bogged down by high pendency of cases ● Hence a Constitutional Bench has been set up by SC to debate for the need for NCA ● If NCA is set up, then SC will only hear Constitutional and Public law cases |
| Aadhar iIll 2016 | ● Passed in the Parliament as a money bill
● Money bill does not require approval of Rajya Sabha ● Opposition had concerns over mass surveillance, Govt said delivery of benefits and subsidies were more important |
| Pradhan Mantri Ujjwal Yojana | ● Scheme approved by Cabinet committee
● To provide 5 crore subsidized LPG connections to women of BPL in next 3 years ● Rs. 8000 crore allocated |
| Pradhan Mantri fasal Bima Yojana | ● Finance minister to include 50% of farmers under the scheme
● Low premium insurance scheme will provide relief for farmers(compensation will be higher) even if the crop is damaged by nature |
| Housing for All scheme | ● Financial assistance of 1.3 lakhs will be provided to homeless families for construction of pucca houses
● Beneficiaries will be entitled to 90 days of unskilled labour under MGNREGS ● Target to build 2.95 crore houses is 2022- India’s 75th year of independence ● Cost of unit shared between Central and state govt. is 60:40 in plain regions and 90:10 in the north east and the hilly regions. |
| Rural employment mobile app | ● Karnataka developed mobile app named “MGNREGA M-platform”
● Helps officials monitor MGNREGA ● Allows beneficiaries to monitor progress at every stage ● Reduce fund diversion and interference by middlemen ● Helps in collecting data for the government |
| OCI cards | ● Overseas citizen of India and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards were merged last year
● No visa will be required to enter India, OCI cards will be enough, but passport is necessary. ● OCI cards will be equipped with high security which cannot be tampered |
| Farmer suicides | ● 25,000 crore allocated to agricultural sector in Maharashtra
● Farmers distress and suicides forced the Govt of Maharashtra to take this step. |
| Women allowed in temples | ● Bombay high court verdicts says no law stops women from entering the temples
● Verdict came after a PIL was filed by activist Vidya Bal and advocate Nilima Varta ● Not only temple but also sanctum sanctorum of Shani Shingnapur temple in Mumbai where it all started ● But no verdict has been given on Haji Ali dargah |
| Clinical trials | ● Health ministry amended Drug and Cosmetic act exempting academic institutions from taking permission from DCGI for clinical trials
● DGCI is Drug Controller General of India ● Rule 122 DA refers to the clinical trials in D&C act ● This has come from the recommendations of Ranjit Roy Choudhury Committee |
| National & International Events | |
| Asia’s largest Tulip Garden | This has been opened up for Tourists; It is in Srinagar ; It is located on foothills of Zabarwan Range |
| World Sleep Day | ● On Friday before March Equinox (in 2016 it is March 18)
● 2016 slogan “Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream” ● To raise awareness about sleep disorders and to promote about sleep disorder prevention and management ● Annual event organised by committee of World Association of Sleep Medicine(WASM) |
| BRICS 2016 | ● 8th summit, Venue : Goa, India, Theme:Building responsive, inclusive and collective solutions for the grouping ● 7th summit: Ufa, Russia, 2015 |
| India France sign MoU | For 6 nuclear reactors in Jaitapur, Maharashtra |
| Nuclear Security Summit | ● Fourth summit to be held in Washington from 31 march
● Iran and DPRK not invited ● Russia not participating |
| National awards 2016 | Special jury award: Kalki Koechlin for her role in Margarita with a Straw |
| USAID and ADB MoU | ● US agency for International Development and Asian Development Bank signed MoU to $848 mn funding for solar parks in India
● Ministry of Renewable energy plans to build 25 solar parks across the nation with total capacity of 20000 MW |
| Economy and banking | |
| Safeguard duty | ● a trade remedy recognised by the World Trade Organisation
● temporary measure to counter the adverse impact caused to the domestic industry due to a sudden and unforeseen surge in (low-priced) imports of the item |
| Cabotage rules | ● Cabotage is transportation of good and people along the coast
● Transhipment is offloading from one ship to another for domestic or abroad ● Govt. has eased cabotage rules to encourage transhipment ● This will enable foreign vessels bring goods at any of the Indian ports which are meant to be shipped to other destinations |
| Cairn UK | Tax Department has asked for Rs. 10,000 crore tax + 18,800 Interest. |
| Science and Technology | |
| El -Nino | ● Heating of water in central eastern region of the equatorial pacific with average rise in temperature of 0.5 degrees celsius
● Meteorologists say 2016 will be normal monsoon (89cms of rainfall) ● 2015 was fourth time that El-Nino conditions were there in 100 years for more than successive 2 years |
| Microbeads | ● Small plastic pieces measuring less than 1mm in size made of PE,PP, PET, PMMA and nylon
● National Green Tribunal wants to ban these microplastics which are now packed in cosmetic products as exfoliating agents ● Water pollution increases, they are non biodegradable, ingested by marine organisms, fish and marine mammals |
| Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) | Resistance of a microbe to an antimicrobial medication that used to be effective in treating or preventing an infection caused by that microbe. |
| India’s Rotavirus vaccine launched-ROTAVAC | Health ministry launched rotavirus vaccine for diarrhea
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| Blood test to test TB infection | A set of 16 genes used as biomarkers to check if the individual has TB or not |
| Renewable plastic | Replacing styrene with lignin
This will bring cleaner and cheaper raw materials |
| Environment | |
| Biosphere reserves
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| New Shark and Ray species found | ● 13 species Sharks and Rays have been found in Indian waters
● They have been bar coded, ● DNA barcoding was successfully used for accurate identification of chondrichthyans which included the chimaeras, sharks, rays, and skates in the Indian waters ● Recently, the government had imposed a ban on the export of shark fins |
| Sumatran rhino | A critically endangered rhino found after 40 years in Borneo
Borneo is third largest island and is shared between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Sumatran rhino is ● Smallest rhino ● Only asian rhino with 2 horns ● Covered with long hair |
| African catfish | ● Native to africa and middle east
● Nocturnal predatory fish feeds on living and dead ● High tolerance for oxygenated water |
| Persons in News ( Appointments, Awards , Deaths ) | |
| Htin Kyaw | First elected President of Myanmar in five decades ; Belongs to Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy ( NLD ) , who won Elections in November 2015 |
| Dr Atiur Rehman | ● Governor of Central Bank of Bangladesh;
● Resigned because of a scam in Bangladesh Central Bank; ● Governor did not inform the government ● Loss due to scam = 80 million USD |
| Mother Teresa | Pope has approved Mother Teresa’s Sainthood |
| Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan | ● Eminent Shehnai player, dies at 77 due to kidney related problems
● Sangeet Natak Academy award in 2009 for contribution to Hindustani instrumental music ● “Banga bhushan” award by West Bengal government in 2012
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| Hinda Bha rwad | ● Animal rights activist consumed pesticide and died
● He wanted that cow be declared national animal |
| Sir Andrew Wiles | ● Won the Abel prize, Abel prize is given in the field of mathematics
● For his proof of “Fermat’s Last Theorem” ● He is professor at Oxford University’s Mathematical Institute. |
| Shreehari Aney | ● Maharashtra’s Advocate General resigned from the post after sharp disapproval from the opposition
● He demanded separate statehood for Marathwada in Maharashtra |
| Andrew Grove | Intel’s mastermind passes away at 79
First hire of Intel, the chipmaker company in 1968 |
| Pandit Shambhu Nath Sopori | Sitar player “Father of Indian Classical music” died
Father of well known Santoor maestro Bhajan Sopori Command over classical and Sufiana music shown in instrumental and vocal performances |
| Tim Chittock | Pedalled his cycle on Golden Quadrilateral in 24 Days
He is from New Zealand It’s a Guinness world record |
| Noor Inayat Khan Prize 2016 | ● Geetakshi Arora, student of University of London for her dissertation on “Goddess myths in graphic novels: Reimagining Indian feminity”
● Trust awards annual prize to post graduate student from SOAS, University of London, working in the area of gender studies and south asian history ● Noor Inayat, Indian descent, was a secret agent in WW2, sent to Nazi occupied area, she was betrayed and killed. |
| Places in News | |
| Chitradurga | ● DRDO to open a Aeronautical Test Range(ATR)
● Chitradurga is near Bengaluru ● Multi agency mega complex will also house facilities of BARC, ISRO, IISc |
| Palakkad Gap Ecosystem | ● A 45 Kms gap in the western ghats between Coimbatore in TN and Palakkad in Kerala
● Facing environmental destruction due to mining and deforestation ● Initiatives by Kerala Biodiversity Board have resulted nothing |
| Brussels attack | ● 34 killed at Zaventem airport by attack claimed by Islamic State
● Belgium has headquarters of NATO and European Union |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Emergency number | ● 112 to be the common emergency number for all services
● It was approved by Telecom commission after recommended by TRAI |
| ICGS Arnwesh commissioned | ● Fast vehicle vessel of Indian coast guard flagged off from Vishakhapatnam
● It main armament comprises 40/60 bofors gun |
| Rajasthan’s first IT day | ● RajNET a wide area network connecting state capital with all the panchayats
● Built as a multi mode connectivity network Will enable effective delivery of services like eMitra and MGNREGA Theme: “promotion of IT startups” |
| Iron Fist | Exercise of Indian Air Force. First held in 2013; Again being held in 2016 in Pokhran |
| Tobacco Pictorial Warnings | ● New regulations require that 85% of the front and back cover of cigarette packets should have anti cancer warnings;
● Parliamentary Panel is now asking that it should be 50% only as it will be too harsh on “tobacco industry”. ● But change comes into effect from April 1. Tobacco companies say – it will impact business and have shut down a number of factories. |
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