Syllabus: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology. Context Amid Indigenous Tejas Mk-2 Development, SAAB Offers Single-Engine Gripen E For IAF’s 114 Advanced Fighter Jet Contract 114 Advanced Fighter Jet Contract Swedish aerospace company Saab has announced its intent to submit a proposal …
Read More »Yearly Archives: 2023
India and Greece
Syllabus: IR Context India and Greece are finding new ways to revive an age-old relationship Crux Speaking after a bilateral meeting with Greece’s Prime Minister last week, Prime Minister highlighted that India-Greece bilateral relations have neither been “diminished” nor has the warmth decreased despite no Indian Prime Minister having visited …
Read More »Fifth Annual Defence Dialogue in Dhaka
Syllabus: India and its neighbourhood- relations. Context India and Bangladesh held the fifth Annual Defence Dialogue on 28 August 2023 in Dhaka. Crux About the meeting Defence Secretary is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh on 27-28 August 2023, co-chaired the meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Lt Gen, Principal Staff …
Read More »Article 35A denied rights
Syllabus: Constitution of India Why in NEWS Chief Justice of India said Article 35A, which empowered the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature to define “permanent residents” of the State and provide them special privileges, denied fundamental rights to others. Article 35A Article 35A of the Indian Constitution was an article that …
Read More »India and China need to have substantive conversations on ties
Syllabus: India and its neighborhood- relations. Context India and China have once again come away from their talks with starkly different views of their ties. Story so far The only talking point from last week’s brief conversation between Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President on the sidelines of the BRICS …
Read More »The state of scholarships for minorities
Syllabus: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes THE GIST The Sachar Committee was constituted by the UPA government to look into the social, economic and educational standing of Muslims in India. In a comprehensive 400-page report tabled …
Read More »Echolocation
Science behind it Source emits sound waves, and listens for their reflections by objects in their surroundings. Based on what the reflected waves, or echoes, sound like, the animal or device understands its environment. Animals that use echolocation emit high-frequency sound pulses beyond the range of human hearing. Bats – …
Read More »Somatic mutations: a genomic revolution hiding inside our cells
The human genome has 23 pairs of chromosomes, one inherited from each of our parents. The genome is the blueprint of our genetic makeup. As the cells divide, the DNA is copied with extremely high accuracy due to proteins that proofread and correct errors in the DNA. But despite this …
Read More »As Pragyan digs deep into moon, scientists at a VSSC lab turn their gaze to solar wind
Syllabus: Space technology Context: Aditya-L1 mission, meant to study the sun, lifts off in September. First space-based Indian mission to study the sun from a halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the sun-earth system. XL variant of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to place the Aditya-L1 …
Read More »ISRO releases graph of temperature variation of topsoil in lunar South Pole
Context: ISRO released a graph of the temperature variation on the lunar surface measured by the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) payload measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the South Pole A temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 …
Read More »ExerciseBRIGHT STAR-23
Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Context An Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent departed today, for participating in Exercise BRIGHT STAR-23 a biennial multilateral tri-service exercise scheduled to be held at Cairo (West) Air Base, Egypt from 27 August to 16 September …
Read More »Additional safeguards for export of Basmati rice
Syllabus: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment Context Introduction of additional safeguards for export of Basmati rice to prevent exports of Non-Basmati white rice through mis-classification as Basmati rice. Reason To check the domestic prices and to ensure domestic food security, the …
Read More »Transport fleet requirement
Syllabus: Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life. Context The Air Force has sought information from manufacturers on an aircraft with load-carrying capacity between 18 tonnes and 30 tonnes; the study may take six months to finish, says source; so far, the force has received …
Read More »Why did Chandrayaan-3 land on the near side of the moon?
Syllabus: Space technology Near side refers to the portion of the moon visible to us (about 60%). It is always the same side that is visible from Earth because the moon takes the same time to rotate about its axis as it does to circle around the Earth. The ‘new …
Read More »Cases in Manipur to Assam
Syllabus: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary Why in NEWS The Supreme Court on Friday asked Gauhati High Court Chief Justice to nominate one or more judicial officers in Assam to take charge of the pre-trial processes in 27 cases related to the ethnic violence in …
Read More »Contradictions in new BRICS
Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Context BRICS found new purpose with expansion; but contradictions too Emerging BRICS Ever since the grouping, set up as a coalition of emerging economies, said last year that it was open to new members, as many …
Read More »GIS mapping of water, sewer lines in Chennai to be done by November
Context: Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is set to complete by November the work to map water and sewer infrastructure in the city with the geographic information system (GIS) database and geo-tag the locations. executed under the Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Programme funded by the Asian …
Read More »Cleantech, for an inclusive green future in India
Syllabus: Green economy India’s experience has shown that climate action is only effective and embraced at scale if it aligns with the development aspirations of millions and contributes to economic growth. The green economy paradigm provides an optimistic pathway to align development and environmental outcomes. Example: building a solar park …
Read More »Xi wants both countries to handle border issue properly
Syllabus : Security challenges and their management in border areas – linkages of organized crime with terrorism. Why in NEWS China’s Foreign Ministry said early on Friday that its President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during talks on Wednesday that both sides “should bear in mind the overall …
Read More »28-ft Nataraja sculpture
Context: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times. Why in NEWS A 28-foot Nataraja statue, meant to be placed at the venue of the G-20 Leaders’ Summit to be held next month in New Delhi, was sent by road …
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