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Recently, the Monsoon session of Parliament has begun, after the reshuffling of the Council of ministers and the Cabinet committees. Important points: The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution. The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the Government. The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs which is …

Recently, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that its new spacecraft, named Near-Earth Asteroid Scout or NEA Scout, has completed all required tests and has been safely tucked inside the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Important points: Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout, is a miniaturized spacecraft, known as a CubeSat, developed under NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems …

According to a recent RBI report on ‘Monetary transmission in India’, the share of outstanding loans linked to External Benchmarks Lending Rate (EBLR – like repo rate), increased from as low as 2.4% during September 2019 to 28.5% during March 2021. This increase in EBLR linked lending will contribute to significant improvement in monetary policy transmission. However, still 71.5% …

In a recent reply in the Parlaiment, the government disclosed that between 1st April and 30th November, 2015, 25,357 cases were registered under police category which included 111 deaths in police custody, 330 cases of custodial torture and 24,916 in others. This data again lays emphasis on the need to make police accountable and carry out police reform. Important …

The Supreme Court (SC) is going to hear a fresh challenge to the provision allowing restitution (recovery) of conjugal rights under Hindu personal laws (Hindu Marriage act 1955). Important points: Conjugal rights are rights created by marriage, i.e. right of the husband or the wife to the society of the other spouse. The law recognises these rights— both …

Recently, a petition was filed in the Supreme court (SC), that seeks a relook into the Sedition Law. Important points: The nearly-60-year old judgment helped sedition to survive in Indian Penal Code. The 1962 judgment in the KedarNath case, which upheld Section 124A (sedition), a relic of the colonial legacy, was given at a time when …

A report titled ‘The State of Food Security Nutrition in the World 2021 (SOFI)’ has studied the impact of Covid-19 pandemic-induced income loss on food intake and malnutrition. The report is presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food …

Recently, the Union Education Minister and Union Tribal Affairs Minister jointly launched the School Innovation Ambassador Training Program (SIATP). The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched an Adi-Prashikshan portal which is also a repository of training inputs. Important points: The innovative and one-of-its-kind training program for school teachers aims at training 50,000 school teachers in innovation, entrepreneurship, Intellectual …

Recently, a political party has raised the demand of bringing the long-pending Women’s Reservation Bill to Parliament, ahead of the monsoon session. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in May 2008 and was referred to a standing committee. In 2010, it was passed in the House and transmitted finally to the Lok Sabha. However, the Bill lapsed with the 15th Lok …

The G7 (Group of Seven) Countries proposed a ‘Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative’ at the recent 47th G7 summit to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is an intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975. The bloc meets annually to discuss issues of common interest like global economic governance, international security and energy policy. The G7 countries are the UK, Canada, France, Germany, …