China and Iran signed a 25-year “strategic cooperation pact” recently. It includes “political, strategic and economic” components. This document can be very effective in deepening relations It would establish a blueprint for “reciprocal investments in the fields of transport, ports, energy, industry and services”. The agreement comes amid a major …

The Bihar legislature witnessed noisy disorder inside and outside the Assembly on March 23-24 as Opposition parties opposed the government’s attempt to pass the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021. Protesting Opposition lawmakers were forcibly ousted by marshals and additional police forces called in by the Speaker’s office, with many …

Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs. Babita Puniya Case: The Supreme Court in February 2020 directed the government to ensure that women officers in the Army be granted permanent commission (PC) as well as command postings in all services other than combat. Appeal by Women questing implementation: Later, questioning the compliance …

Two new species of seaweed have been discovered by a group of marine biologists from Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. Imporatant points: Named Hypnea indica (after India) and Hypnea bullata (because of the blisterlike marks on its body – bullate), the seaweeds are part of the genus Hypnea or red …

India and Bangladesh signed 5 MoUs in the fields of Disaster Management, trade, NCC, ICT and setting up of sports facilities recently. Foundation stone was laid for infrastructure development for power evacuation facilities from the Rooppur Nuclear power plant. The Bangladesh leg of the Banagabandhu-Bapu Digital Exhibition was inaugurated by …

NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR. It will detect movements of Earth’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court. It is an SUV-sized satellite. The name NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the …

India delivered on its promise of 2,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the United Nations Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF) worldwide, sending a shipment bound for Copenhagen. UN Peacekeeping: UN peacekeepers provide security and the political and peacebuilding support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace. Principles: …

As many as 27 migratory birds have been reported dead on account of avian influenza in the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary area of Himachal Pradesh. Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary: The Pong Dam also called the Beas dam is an artificial embankment Dam constructed across the Beas river in Himachal Pradesh. …

Chairman of the Empowered Group on COVID-19 vaccination said that the Co-WIN platform, for COVID-19 vaccination registration, has been ramped up to accept one crore registrations and record vaccination of 50 lakh persons daily. COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system is a digitalised platform to be used to effectively roll …

The five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi in M. Siddiq v. Mahant Suresh Das popularly known as Ram Janmabhoomi temple case had upheld the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 The Preamble of the Act …

The Centre plans to issue a 14-digit identification number to every plot of land in the country within a year. Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) scheme: The Department of Land Resources said that the ULPIN scheme has been launched in 10 States this year and will be rolled out …

The President of India gave assent to a Bill to accord primacy to Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the government. The Union government announced the presidential assent to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 through a gazette notification. The law says the government in Delhi …

The Centre has told the Assam government that “rejection slips” to those excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in 2019 should be issued immediately. National Register of Citizens (NRC): NRC is an official record of those who are legal Indian citizens. It includes demographic information about …

The Earth Hour is being observed on 27th March 2021. Earth Hour is the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF)’s annual initiative that began in 2007. It is held every year on the last Saturday of March. It encourages people from more than 180 countries to switch off the lights …

Recently, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted permits to “No-Permission-No-Takeoff’ (NPNT) compliant drone operations at 34 additional green zones to facilitate, smoothen, and promote drone operations in the country. About: NPNT is a software program that enables every Remotely Piloted Aircraft (except Nano) to obtain a valid permission through …

Recently, a study has identified 193 sites having either intact or ruins of Garhwal forts and fortalices spread along the north, east and southern regions of the Garhwal Himalayas. This is the first of its kind database. A total of 36 major forts and 12 prominent fort clusters have been …

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared African Forest and Savanna (or bush) elephants as ‘critically endangered’ and ‘endangered’ respectively. Earlier, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable. This is the first time the two species have been assessed separately for the IUCN …

The Centre has rejected 4.3% of all Right to Information (RTI) requests in 2019-20, the lowest ever rate, according to the Central Information Commission (CIC)’s annual report. Rejection rates have fallen since the 13.9% rate in 2005-06, and have been steadily trending downwards since the 8.4% spike in 2014-15. Important …

Recently, the Supreme Court pushed for the appointment of retired judges to battle the pendency of cases in High Courts. Supreme Court Suggestions: Guidelines for Appointment of an Ad-hoc Judge: The court orally outlined prospective guidelines for the appointment and functioning of an ad-hoc judge. Pendency Beyond a Certain Limit: …

Recently, the World Bank has published the World Development Report 2021:Data for Better Lives. The World Development Report 2021 provides a blueprint on how to harness the power of data for development, to ensure no one is left behind. Important Points: The Social Contract For Data: To get more value …