The second phase of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) will be completed by September 2021, taking India’s total computational capacity to 16 Petaflops. Important points: NSM was announced in 2015, with an aim to connect national academic and R&D institutions with a grid of more than 70 high-performance computing facilities …

Recently, the President appointed Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). He replaces Sunil Arora who has retired. Important points: Election Commission of India: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India. It was …

Recently, Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom (UK) saw the worst violence in years. Parts of Northern Ireland are split along sectarian lines, 23 years after a peace deal largely ended Northern Ireland’s troubles. Important points: Historical Conflict: Geographically, Northern Ireland is part of Ireland. Politically, it’s part of the UK. …

Recently, the Defence Minister of India held bilateral talks with the Defence Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan in New Delhi. The two Ministers had last met in Moscow (Russia) in September 2020 on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting. Important points: Agreed that both sides …

The Ganges river dolphin is found in parts of the Ganges, Meghna, and Brahmaputra river systems in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. They are locally known as Susu, which refers to the noise the dolphin is said to make when it breathes. The Gangetic river dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal. …

Widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace and Development” organization within the United Nations family, the IAEA is the international centre for cooperation in the nuclear field. The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of …

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed to temporary measures to offset Iran’s decision to restrict access to inspectors. In December 2020, Iran’s Parliament passed the law demanding a suspension of some inspections if the USA failed to lift sanctions. Important points: Iran will stop the implementation …

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and four States to file their response within three weeks on a plea seeking a direction to repeal the provisions criminalising begging. Important points: The plea has referred to the August 2018 verdict of the Delhi High Court which had decriminalised begging in …

Egypt announced the discovery of what is being touted as the most important find since the unearthing of King Tutankhamun’s tomb almost 100 years ago. A three-millennia-old “lost golden city” from the era of 18th-dynasty king Amenhotep III, who ruled ancient Egypt from 1391 to 1353 B.C., was found in …

In the Antarctic floats a massive glacier, roughly the size of Britain, whose melting has been a cause of alarm for scientists over the years. Now, a new study has pinned the cause of the melting to the presence of warm water at a vital point beneath the glacier. The …