Why in news: Punjab has been reeling under floods for well over a month now and the proposed solution to this is zoning of flood plains. Significance of flood plains: A river expands and contracts naturally over seasons and in different years. A flood plain is an area adjacent to the river which normally gets flooded when the …
Read More »Antarctica’s melting sea ice killed thousands of emperor penguins chicks
Why in news: Up to 10,000 emperor penguin chicks across four colonies in Antarctica’s Bellingshausen Sea may have died as the sea ice underneath their breeding grounds melted and broke apart in late 2022, according to a new study. About Emperor Penguins: The emperor penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all …
Read More »When Onam Was A Big Festival In Tamil Lands
Syllabus: Indian culture Snapshot Today Onam is a festival only identified with Malayalis and Kerala. However it was once a big festive occassion across Tamil speaking regions as well. There are multiple ancient Tamil literary works that speak of grand celebrations of Onam nearly two millennia ago. Padmanabhan beautifully describes …
Read More »Tejas Mk-2 Development
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 »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 »