OIL UP OVER 2% ON OPEC CUT, STIMULI HOPES
Focus: GS-III Industry and Infrastructure Why in news? Oil prices jumped more than 4 per cent, up from multi-year lows hit earlier on 2nd March 2020, as hopes of a deeper cut in output by OPEC and stimulus from central banks countered worries about damage to demand from the coronavirus outbreak. The unprecedented disruption to […]
SAFEGUARD UNDERMINED
Focus: GS-II Governance Why in news? The law on granting sanction for prosecution imposes a duty on the government concerned to apply its mind to the facts of each case and render a decision based on its assessment whether, prime facie, a case has been made out The sanction requirement has seen criticism only in […]
RETURN TO CHAOS IN AFGHANISTAN?
Focus: GS-II International Relations Why in news? Recently, the U.S. signed a deal (at Qatar’s capital-Doha) with the Taliban that could pave the way towards a full withdrawal of foreign soldiers from Afghanistan over the next 14 months and represent a step towards ending the 18-year-war in Afghanistan. Background of the Deal Inhuman violence by Islamist terror group al-Qaeda, and […]
PUSHING THE WRONG ENERGY BUTTONS
Focus: GS-III Industry and Infrastructure Why in news? Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and Westinghouse Electric Company have finalized the techno-commercial offer for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India at the earliest date. Concerns Because of the cost and safety, the two organisations should have been told to abandon, not finalise, the […]
BOTTOM OR MIRAGE?
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy Why in news? Official estimates of gross domestic product for the fiscal third quarter have pegged growth in the festival demand-filled October-November month period at 4.7%, a distinct slowdown from the revised year-earlier and preceding quarters’ 5.6% and 5.1% paces respectively. Growth of different sectors: Manufacturing, which contributes just under a fifth to gross […]
OECD LOWERS INDIA’S FY21 GDP GROWTH TO 5.1%
Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Prelims Why in news? Global agency OECD on 2nd March, 2020, lowered its India’s GDP growth forecast to 5.1 per cent from the earlier projection of 6.2 per cent for 2020 on concerns of impact of deadly coronavirus on the domestic as well as the global economy. Details of the report: […]
HACKERS MAY HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR SMART DEVICE
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology Why in news? iPhone, iPad, Amazon Echo or Kindle or certain handsets from Google, Samsung or Xiaomi, is exposed to have a vulnerable WiFi chips that allowed hackers to access data from the handset. Once a hacker gets access to any device for even a short period of time, they […]
EU RAISES ALERT AS VIRUS TOLL CROSSES 3,000
Focus: GS-III Science and Technology Why in news? The death toll from COVID19 outbreak surpassed 3,000 on 2nd March 2020 as more people died in China, Iran and the U.S. and Europe raised its state of alert. The new coronavirus, also called SARSCoV2, has now infected more than 89,000, spread to over 60 countries and […]
SOLID PROOF NOT MUST FOR ESTABLISHING CITIZENSHIP
Focus: GS-II Governance Why in news? Proof beyond all reasonable doubts is not required in a Foreigners Tribunal (FT) for establishing one’s citizenship, the Gauhati High Court has observed. The Gauhati High Court observed that strict rules of evidence were not applicable to the tribunals “established for quick disposal of the matters sent to it”. […]
ACCESS TO INTERNET IS NOT NEGOTIABLE: LAW MINISTER
Focus: GS-II Indian Polity, Prelims Why in news? Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 2nd march 2020 – said access to Internet is plainly non-negotiable as it flows from the right to information. He also said that, the international arbitration centre at the National Capital, established under the New Delhi International Arbitration Act of […]