VISION

VISION

Material For Exam

Recent Update

Thursday, November 10, 2022

THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 10.11.2022

07:27
th-important-articles-logo



Click Here to Like our Facebook page for latest updates and free ebooks
Read More
Read more »
at
Labels: , ,

Wednesday, November 09, 2022

Daily Current Affairs, 09th November 2022

19:16

 


1)  International Week of Science and Peace 2022: 9-15 November

•November 9 to November 14 is observed as the International Week of Science and Peace every year around the globe. This week is an initiative taken by the United Nations (UN), hoping to make people contribute towards the encouragement and promotion of peace across the globe. During this week, people inspire and promote peace in their countries and also develop advanced technology for better living. Various events and activities are organized worldwide, and people participate internationally.


2)  National Legal Services Day 2022: 9th November

•National Legal Services Day is marked every year on 9th November to celebrate the commencement of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 which came into force on this very day in 1995. This day was established with a mandate to offer support and help to weaker sections of society including Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, women, disabled persons, natural calamities victims, and human trafficking victims.


•National Legal Services Day is crucial in raising public knowledge about various provisions of the Legal Services Authorities Act as well as litigants’ rights. The Day is commemorated to educate citizens about the various aspects of the Legal Services Authorities Act and litigants’ rights. Each jurisdiction arranges legal help camps, Lok adalats, and legal aid programmes on this day.


3)  Uttarakhand Foundation Day 2022: 9th November

•Uttarakhand Foundation Day is observed on November 9 every year. Also known as Uttrakhand Divas, it is celebrated to mark the establishment of the 27th state of India. Uttarakhand did not come into existence with India’s independence. It is one of the newer states that was created under the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000.


•The state of Uttarakhand has very rich natural resources which include glaciers, rivers, dense forests and snow-capped mountain peaks. It also houses the four most sacred and revered Hindu temples also known as the Char Dham of Uttarakhand. Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. The capital of the state is Dehradun and the winter capital is Gairsain.


4)  Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils logo, theme and website of India’s G20 presidency

•Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled India’s logo, theme and website for its presidency of the G20, which reflects the country’s message and overarching priorities to the world. The G20 logo, created with the four colours of India’s national flag, comprises of earth sitting atop a lotus. The seven petals in the logo signify the seven seas and the coming together of seven continents at G20 India 2023. The earth reflects India’s pro-planet approach to life and from this, it derives the theme of G20 India 2023 – “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: One Earth, One Family, One Future.”


5)  IT-gaints Google launches ‘FloodHub’, a platform to forecast flood

•An American technology giant, Google has launched a platform that displays flood forecasts, namely ‘FloodHub’. This platform shows the area and time where floods could occur, in order to inform people about the natural calamity and authorities can assist them with effectively. The technology giant has also expanded its AI flood forecasting services to 18 counties across Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. To recall, these flood forecasting services supported by AI were first introduced in India back in 2018.


6)  Indian Navy participates Malabar Naval Exercise in Japan

•India is participating in 26th International Malabar Naval Exercise begins in Yokosuka of Japan. In the Malabar Naval Exercise, Australia, Japan and the USA are also participating. The naval forces of these countries will take part in the exercise till the 18th of next month. Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kamorta are ready to demonstrate at the event.


7)  Justice DY Chandrachud to Take Oath As New Chief Justice of India

•Senior-most Supreme Court judge and Chief Justice of India-designate Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud is all set to become the 50th head of the Indian judiciary when President Draupadi Murmu would administer the oath of office to him at Rashtrapati Bhawan.


8)  Netherlands Turns Top Buyer of Indian Petro-Products Amid Ukraine War

•The Netherlands has emerged as the top destination for India’s petroleum product exports such as petrol and diesel in the first half of the current fiscal year. This change comes in the wake of the Ukraine war, with India continuing to buy discounted crude oil from sanctions-hit Russia.


9)  A new book title “Winning the Inner Battle” authored by Shane Watson

•A new book titled “Winning the Inner Battle Bringing the best version of you to cricket” is authored by Shane Watson. This book will give you all of the information that you will ever need to deeply understand how to bring the best version of yourself every time your best performance is needed.


•Shane Watson is one of Australian cricket’s finest all-rounders, representing his country 298 times. Shane Watson’s new book, Winning The Inner Battle, which explores the mental side of the game through his own experiences of revitalising his career after he had considered retirement in 2015.


10)  “E. K. Janaki Ammal: Life and Scientific Contributions” authored by Nirmala James

•Retired school teacher Nirmala James has authored a new book titled “E. K. Janaki Ammal: Life and Scientific Contributions”, featuring the life and remarkable achievements of Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal (E. K. Janaki Ammal), India’s first woman botanist. The book, published by Enview Research and Development, was released during the event organised on the 125th birth anniversary of E. K. Janaki Ammal. She was born on 4th November 1897 in Thalassery, Kerala. The event was organised by the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (CBC) under the Botany Department, University of Kerala.
Read More
at
Labels: , ,

The HINDU Notes – 09th November 2022

16:11

 


📰 UN chief slams companies engaging in ‘toxic cover-up’

Firms cannot claim to be net zero if they invest in fossil fuels or cause deforestation, says a COP-27 report; Guterres asks stakeholders to update net zero pledges in a year to comply with UN norms

•The UN’s chief called on Tuesday for an end to a “toxic cover-up” by companies as a sweeping report said they cannot claim to be net zero if they invest in new fossil fuels, cause deforestation or offset emissions instead of reducing them.

•Antonio Guterres said businesses as well as cities and regions should update their voluntary net zero pledges within a year to comply with the recommendations by UN experts, as he trained his sights on fossil fuel firms and “their financial enablers”.

•“Using bogus ‘net-zero’ pledges to cover up massive fossil fuel expansion is reprehensible. It is rank deception,” he said at the launch of the report at the COP-27 conference in Egypt. “This toxic cover-up could push our world over the climate cliff. The sham must end.”

•The UN expert panel, convened after the UN climate talks last year, set its sights on drawing a “red line” around greenwashing in net zero targets from companies, cities and regions.

•A huge surge in decarbonisation pledges in recent months means that around 90% of the global economy is now covered by some sort of promise of carbon neutrality, according to Net Zero Tracker.

•“It’s very easy to make an announcement that you are going to be net zero by 2050. But you have to walk the talk and what we’ve seen is that there is not enough action,” said Catherine McKenna, Canada’s former Environment and Climate Change Minister, who led the panel.

•The report lists a slew of recommendations, including calling on governments to begin putting in place binding regulations.

UAE-Egypt deal

•Meanwhile, the UAE and Egypt agreed to develop one of the world's largest wind farms in a deal struck on the sidelines of summit.

•The 10 GW onshore wind project in Egypt will produce 47,790 GWh of clean energy annually once it is completed, the UAE’s state news agency said. It will offset 23.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions - equivalent to around 9% of Egypt's current CO2 output.

📰 ‘No consensus’ is derailing counter-terror diplomacy

•India’s decision to host the special session of the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (UNSC-CTC) last month — held in Mumbai and New Delhi, it focused on new and emerging technologies — is one of a number of events planned by the Government to give its counter-terror diplomacy a greater push. Later this month, New Delhi will host the third edition of the “No Money For Terror” (NMFT) conference that will look at tackling future modes of terror financing. And in December, when India takes over the United Nations Security Council Presidency for the last time before its two-year term in the Council ends, India will chair a special briefing on the “Global Counter Terrorism Architecture”, looking at the challenges ahead.

•While the focus is on the future of the fight against terrorism, it is important to look at some of the challenges that already exist, especially when the world’s attention is consumed by the war in Europe, dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, and global economic recession.

GWOT – built on an unequal campaign

•The first challenge is that the “Global War On Terrorism” (GWOT), as it was conceived by a post-9/11 United States is over with the last chapter written last year, as the United States negotiated with the Taliban, and then withdrew from Afghanistan. GWOT itself was built on an unequal campaign — when India had asked for similar help to deal with the IC-814 hijacking (December 1999) less than two years prior to the 9/11 attacks (with evidence now clear that those who the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was forced to release were all terrorists who went on to help with planning, funding or providing safe havens to the al-Qaeda leadership), its pleas fell on deaf ears in the U.S., the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and of course, Pakistan, all of whom were hit by the same terrorists in later years.

•Even after GWOT was launched, Pakistan’s role as the U.S.’s ally, and China’s “iron friend” ensured that the UNSC designations of those who threatened India the most, including Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed, never mentioned their role in attacks in India. The maximum India received in terms of global cooperation was actually from economic strictures that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s grey list placed on Pakistan — Pakistan was cleared from this in October — indicating that the global appetite to punish Pakistan for terrorism has petered out.

•In addition, the weak international reaction to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, and its persecution of women and minorities in the country, demonstrate rising fatigue levels in dealing with “another country’s problems”. The hard reality for India is that the future of counter-terrorism cooperation is going to be less cooperative, and counter-terror regimes such as the UNSC Resolutions 1267, 1373, etc. rendered outdated and toothless.

A blur over definition, new technologies

•Next, the growing global polarisation over the Russia-Ukraine war is not only shifting the focus from terrorism but is also blurring the lines on what constitutes terrorism. The CTC meeting in Delhi, for example, was disrupted over Russia’s claims that the U.K. helped Ukraine launch drone attacks on Russia’s naval fleet in Sevastopol. The question remains: . if drone attacks by Yemeni Houthis on the UAE and Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure were condemned as terrorist attacks, why was the line drawn for drone attacks on Russian ships in a port used for loading grain, or a bridge bombing that put so many civilian lives at risk? On the other hand, how will Russia square up the possible recruitment of the former Afghan republic’s National Army Commando Corps into its war in Ukraine? Would not these commandos who once fought Taliban terrorists, now qualify as terrorists themselves?

•Away from the battlefield, the polarisation has rendered the body tasked with global peace, paralysed: as the UNSC is unable to pass any meaningful resolutions that are not vetoed by Russia or western members, and China has been able to block as many as five terror designations requested by India and the U.S.

•Perhaps the biggest opportunity lost due to the UNSC’s other preoccupations has been the need to move forward on India’s proposal, of 1996, of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). While each conference, including the CTC meeting in Delhi, makes passing the CCIT a goal, very little progress has been made on the actual issues such as the definition of terrorism, concerns over human rights law conflicts, and the old debate on ‘freedom fighter vs terrorist’. Despite several changes in the draft made by India in 2016, consensus for the convention is still elusive.

•The next challenge comes from emerging technologies and the weaponisation of a number of different mechanisms for terrorism purposes. Drones are already being used to deliver funds, drugs, weapons, ammunition and even improvised explosive devices. After the COVID-19 pandemic, worries have grown about the use of biowarfare, and Gain-of-Function (GoF) research to mutate viruses and vectors which could be released into targeted populations. In a future that is already here, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and robotic soldiers makes it even easier to perpetrate mass attacks while maintaining anonymity. Terror financing uses bitcoins and cryptocurrency, and terror communications use social media, the dark web and even gaming centres.

The drivers of strife

•Unless there is global consensus on regulating the use of these emergent technologies by all responsible states, it will be hard to distinguish their use from those by designated terror entities, or state-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan, Iran and North Korea are the most obvious examples of countries where the establishment has supported terrorist groups carrying out cross-border strikes, drone attacks and cyberwarfare. But what does one make of drone strikes by North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, where civilians have been killed, or Chinese government-run hackers who disable urban electric grids?

•Nor are there any globally accepted norms on how and in what measure one is to respond to those attacks: whether it is the U.S.’s flattening of Afghanistan post-9/11, Pakistan’s aerial strikes on its own populations in Swat and Balochistan, India’s crossing of the UN-monitored Line of Control after the Uri attack (September 2016) and missile strikes on Pakistani territory (Balakot, in February 2019) after the Pulwama suicide bombing (February 2019), or Israel’s relentless bombardment of buildings in Gaza in retaliation for rocket attacks. Without some consensus on what constitutes terror, no war on terrorism can be truly global.

•The truth is global inequity, food and energy shortages, climate change and pandemics are going to be the next big drivers of strife and violence in the world, where global stakeholders are at present distracted by territorial disputes and narrow political differences. Terrorist acts of the future will grow more and more lethal, will need fewer people to carry out, and with their sponsors having more and more anonymity. India, as host of these counter-terrorism events, and of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the next G-20, must stop fighting the “last war” on terrorism, and steer the global narrative towards preparing for the next ones.

📰 After the dust, a clearer picture of Agnipath’s direction
Read More
Read more »
at
Labels:

THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 09.11.2022

07:37
th-important-articles-logo



Click Here to Like our Facebook page for latest updates and free ebooks
Read More
Read more »
at
Labels: , ,

Kurukshetra Magazine November 2022 ( English ) PDF

07:28

Kurukshetra Magazine November 2022 ( English ) PDF

Click Here to Like our Facebook page for latest updates and free ebooks

Click Here to download Kurukshetra Magazine November 2022 ( English ) PDF
Read More
at
Labels: , , ,

Yojana Magazine November 2022 ( English ) PDF

07:25

Yojana Magazine November 2022 ( English ) PDF

Click Here to Like Yojana Magazine November 2022 ( English ) PDF

Click Here to download Insights IAS Prelims 2023 Subject wise Test 1 With Solution PDF
Read More
at
Labels: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Daily Current Affairs, 08th November 2022

18:23

 


1)  World Radiography Day 2022

•Every year on November 8, World Radiography Day is observed to honour the discovery of X-radiation, also known as X-rays. This day in 1895 saw the completion of German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen’s discovery of X-radiation, or X-rays. For this accomplishment, he was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. This year, we will be celebrating the 11th International Day of Radiology on 11 November and this is observed by all the medical imaging professionals from across the world.


World Radiography Day 2022: Theme


•The theme of International Day of Radiology 2022 is “Radiographers at the Forefront of Patient Safety.” This theme aims to encourage all radiologists, radiographers, radiological technologists, and professionals to recognize and promote the essential role of radiology in the treatment of a patient.


2)  Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity of EWS Quota In 3:2 Verdict

•The Supreme Court (SC)  upheld the 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker section (EWS) among forward castes in government jobs and colleges across India. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) U U Lalit and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi, and J B Pardiwala delivered the judgment.


3)  Rajasthan to Host Iconic 8-Day Long Pushkar Fair

•This year, Pushkar Fair is being hosted by Rajasthan from 1st November to 9th November 2022. Pushkar Fair is also known as Pushkar Camel Fair, Kartik Mela, or Kartik ka Mela. The Pushkar Fair will be held without the popular cattle fair due to the spread of lumpy skin disease in livestock.


4)  15th Edition of Urban Mobility India Conference Underway in Kochi

•In Kerala, the 15th edition of the Urban Mobility India Conference & Expo opens in Kochi  on 4th of November. Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan jointly inaugurated the three-day conference.


Theme Of The Conference:


•The meet is focus on the theme, ‘Azadi @ 75 — Sustainable Aatmanirbhar Urban Mobility‘.


5)  President Droupadi Murmu presents National Florence Nightingale Awards 2021

•The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards (NFNA) for the year 2021 to the Nursing professionals at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The National Florence Nightingale Awards were instituted in the year 1973 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India as a mark of recognition for the meritorious services rendered by the nurses and nursing professionals to the society.


6)  Nagaland organized Tokhu Emong Bird Count

•Nagaland is prepared to host the first bird documentation event – ‘Tokhü Emong Bird Count’ (TEBC) from 4th November to 7th November 2022. ‘Tokhü Emong Bird Count’ is an effort to promote and encourage the conservation of birds in their natural habitat.


7)  Russia Becomes India’s Top Oil Supplier In October

•Surpassing traditional suppliers Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Russia has emerged as the top oil supplier to India in October. This comes amid an ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine that has also seen many Western nations issue sanctions against Russian Federation.


8)  Law Commission Constituted After 4 Years; Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi Appointed As Chairperson

•The central government  appointed chairperson and members of the Law Commission over two and a half years after it was constituted. Retired Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi appointed as the chairperson of the commission.


9)  MoS Rajiv Chandrashekhar releases Two books on achievements and legacy of PM Modi

•Two books on the achievements and legacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were released by Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajiv Chandrashekhar in Dubai. These “Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery” and “Heartfelt: The Legacy of Faith”. The books were released at a programme of Vishwa Sadhbhavana, NID Foundation (Dubai chapter) to enhance and consolidate bonds of fraternity and solidarity among people in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.


•Addressing the Indian diaspora at the Vishwa Sadhbhavana event, Rajiv Chandrasekhar said, the success of the government’s flagship programs like Digital India, Skills India, Start-up India, etc, have changed India’s earlier narrative of a leaky and dysfunctional democracy. He said India today is a “living and breathing example” of a country that is not only plural, secular and diverse but also one that stands for economic development, innovation, growth, and prosperity


10)  Mathura-Vrindavan to become a carbon-neutral tourist destination by 2041

•Uttar Pradesh government announced that Mathura-Vrindavan, one of India’s largest pilgrimage centers, aims to become a “net zero carbon emission” tourist destination by 2041. Tourist vehicles will be banned from the entire Braj region, which includes famous pilgrim centers such as Vrindavan and Krishna Janmabhoomi. Only electric vehicles used as public transport will be allowed into the area.


11)  GSMA elects Airtel CEO Vittal as Deputy Chair

•Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal was elected as deputy chair of the Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA). Bharti Airtel chief executive officer Gopal Vittal has been elected as the deputy chair of GSMA, a global mobile operators body. Vittal will hold the post for two years beginning January 1, 2023. Member companies selected 26 board members for 2023-24 which include senior executives from mobile operators. Telefonica Group CEO Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete Lopez continues to be the chair of the GSMA board.


•Mathew Oomen, president of Reliance Jio too has been elected as a board member. Vittal is the second Indian to hold a senior position in the global grouping of mobile operators. Bharti Airtel founder Sunil Mittal had held the post of GSMA chair during 2017-18.
Read More
at
Labels: , ,

The HINDU Notes – 08th November 2022

13:29

 


📰 Reservation policy cannot continue indefinitely, says SC

Justice P.B. Pardiwala says real solution lies in eliminating the causes that have led to the social, educational and economic backwardness of the weaker sections of the community

•Three judges on the Constitution Bench, in views which formed both the majority and minority opinions, said the policy of reservation in education and employment cannot continue for an indefinite period.

•Justice Bela M. Trivedi, who was part of the majority judgment, said the reservation policy must have a time span. “At the end of 75 years of our Independence, we need to revisit the system of reservation in the larger interest of the society as a whole, as a step forward towards transformative constitutionalism,” Justice Trivedi said.

•She pointed out that quota for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in State Legislative Assemblies would cease 80 years from the commencement of the Constitution. The representation of Anglo-Indian communities in Parliament and Assemblies has already stopped by virtue of the 104th Constitutional Amendment from January 25, 2020. “Therefore, a similar time limit, if prescribed, for the special provisions in respect of the reservations and representations provided in Article 15 and Article 16 of the Constitution, it could be a way forward leading to an egalitarian, casteless and classless society,” Justice Trivedi observed.

•Though not expressly said, Justice Trivedi’s view on stopping quota under Articles 15 and 16 would also encompass EWS reservation.

•Justice P.B. Pardiwala said “reservation is not an end but a means — a means to secure social and economic justice. Reservation should not be allowed to become a vested interest. Real solution, however, lies in eliminating the causes that have led to the social, educational and economic backwardness of the weaker sections of the community”.

•He said “long-standing development and the spread of education” had resulted in tapering the gap between the classes to a considerable extent. Large percentages of Backward Class members attain acceptable standards of education and employment. They should be removed from the Backward categories so that attention could be paid toward those genuinely in need of help.

•“It is very much necessary to take into review the method of identification and the ways of determination of Backward Classes, and also, ascertain whether the criteria adopted or applied for the classification of Backward is relevant for today’s conditions,” Justice Pardiwala said.

•In his minority view on the Bench, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat reminded Baba Saheb Ambedkar’s observations that reservations should be seen as temporary and exceptional “or else they would eat up the rule of equality”.

📰 Supreme Court, in a majority verdict, upholds the EWS quota

10% reservation to the ‘poorest of poor’ among forward castes does not affect Basic Structure of the Constitution, say three judges of the five-member Bench; CJI, another judge hold that exclusion of other communities is avowedly discriminatory

•A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Monday, in a 3:2 majority decision, upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which provides 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of society but excludes the “poorest of poor” among Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) from its scope.

•Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M. Trivedi and J.B. Pardiwala delivered the majority opinions on the five-judge Bench in an hour-long session.

•Chief Justice U.U. Lalit, on his last working day, and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat gave the minority view, which Justice Bhat authored.

•On whether such a reservation on the sole basis of economic criterion violated the Basic Structure of the Constitution, Dinesh Justice Maheshwari took the expansive view that reservation was an “instrument of affirmative action by the state” and should not be confined to the SCs, STs, SEBCs, and the non-creamy layer of the OBCs but also include “any class or sections so disadvantaged as to answer the description of ‘weaker section’”.

•Justice Trivedi, on her part, noted that “the legislature understands and appreciates the needs of its own people”.

•The three judges in the majority held that reservation on economic criterion alone did not violate the Basic Structure of the Constitution.

📰 We’re on highway to climate hell, UN chief says at COP-27
Read More
Read more »
at
Labels:

Insights IAS Prelims 2023 Subject wise Test 1 With Solution PDF

07:54

 Insights IAS Prelims 2023 Subject wise Test 1 With Solution PDF

Click Here to Like our Facebook page for latest updates and free ebooks

Click Here to download Insights IAS Prelims 2023 Subject wise Test 1 With Solution PDF
Read More
at
Labels: , , ,

THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 08.11.2022

07:36
th-important-articles-logo



Click Here to Like our Facebook page for latest updates and free ebooks
Read More
Read more »
at
Labels: , ,