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Recently, India protested against the US decision to conduct a patrol in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the western Indian Ocean, rejecting the US’ claim that India’s domestic maritime law was in violation of international law. Important  Points The US Seventh Fleet announced that one of its warships, USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), …

The Ministry of Civil Aviation recently granted permission to the Central Mine Planning Design Institute to survey the coal field areas of Coal India Limited. According to the permission granted, the drones shall be deployed to monitor the mapping and surveying activity, inspection of coalfield. This is a conditional exemption …

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari recently announced that the project of Khadi and Village Industries (KVIC) called RE-HAB has become a huge success. Thus, it is to be implemented in other states as well. This includes Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, and …

Important points: The Government of India has notified Copyright (Amendment) Rules, 2021. In India, the copyright regime is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 and the Copyright Rules, 2013. The Copyright Rules, 2013 were last amended in the year 2016. Objective of the amendments is to bring the existing rules …

At a time when India is developing the Assumption Island in Seychelles as a naval base to expand its strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean, the government has decided to appoint former Army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag as India’s next High Commissioner to Seychelles. Diplomatic ties between India and Seychelles …

John Kerry, the US President’s Special Envoy on Climate, is currently on a three-day visit to India. One of the objectives of Kerry’s visit is to explore whether India can agree to the possibility of pledging itself to a 2050 net-zero goal. Important points: Net-zero, which is also referred to …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put in place a secondary market Government Security Acquisition Programme (G-SAP) 1.0 for orderly evolution of the yield curve in FY22. Under the programme, the central bank will purchase government bonds of worth Rs 1 trillion (or one lakh crores of rupees). Importance : The …

The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 Recently, the President promulgated Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance 2021 through which the Appellate authorities under nine laws have been replaced with High Courts. The Ordinance has amended the Finance Act 2017 to include provisions related to the composition of search-cum-selection committees, and …

Newly published results of an international experiment hint at the possibility of new physics governing the laws of nature. Important points: The results of the experiment, which studied a subatomic particle called the muon, do not match the predictions of the Standard Model, on which all particle physics is based, …

Recently, a combing operation in the Tekulguda region of Bastar, Chhattisgarh went terribly wrong and resulted in the death of 22 security personnel and many more wounded. This tragic incident is a major setback to India’s internal security (IS) capability at many levels and highlights the challenge that left-wing extremism (LWE) continues …

This article is based on “Bridge the geopolitical distance with Russia” which was published in The Hindustan Times on 16/02/2021. It talks about the importance that Russia and India hold for each other in the present geopolitical scenario. The year 2020 saw several geopolitical events that impacted both India and …

Recently, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based portal ‘SUPACE’ in the judicial system aimed at assisting judges with legal research. SUPACE is short for Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency. Earlier, the E-Courts Project was conceptualised on the basis of “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology …

The Reserve Bank of India recently announced a Government Security Acquisition Programme, GSAP 1.0. Under the programme, the central bank will purchase government bonds of worth Rs 1 trillion (or one lakh crores of rupees). The first purchase of Rs 25,000 crore is to be made on April 15, 2021. …

The Reserve Bank of India recently released the report of Consumer Confidence Survey. The survey was conducted in major cities of the country over 5,000 respondents. Key Highlights of the survey The Consumer Confidence Index declined from 55.5 points in January 2021 to 53.1 points in March 2021. The Future …

Recently, the President of India visited Japan. The visit was the first presidential visit to Japan after a gap of 29 years. The last presidential visit was in 1990 when the then President, RamaswamyVenkatraman, attended the enthronement ceremonies of Emperor Emeritus Akihoto who stepped down in 2018. Key Highlights The President attended the enthronement ceremony …

The Union Cabinet recently apprised a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) signed between India and Japan. The MoU was signed between National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) that operates under Department of Space, GoI and the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere called the RISH that operates under Kyoto University of Japan. What …

The INS Sarvekshak is on a deployment to Mauritius for undertaking Hydrogrpahic surveys along with Mauritius. It will also provide training to the Mauritian personnel on advanced hydrographic equipment and practices during the deployment. Hydrographic Survey INS Sarvekshak has visited Port Louis and commenced the hydrographic survey of “Deep Sea …

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was constituted under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008. It is a central agency to investigate and prosecute offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of State, friendly relations with foreign States. against atomic and nuclear facilities. smuggling in High-Quality Counterfeit Indian Currency. …

The Union Cabinet approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for White Goods (Air Conditioners and LED Lights) with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 6,238 crore. The PLI Scheme for White Goods shall extend an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a …

Spearheaded by the United Nations (UN), the E9 Partnership was first established in 1993. E9 Countries include Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The initiative aims to advance the Sustainable Development Goal 4 agenda by driving rapid change in education systems in three of the 2020 Global …