The India-Australia Trade Agreement
Context: On April 2, India and Australia signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). The landmark bilateral trade pact is the second trade agreement India has signed this year after inking a similar deal with the United Arab Emirates. Relevance: GS II- International Relations Dimensions of the Article: India-Australia ECTA Main features Dispute settlement […]
Emergency in Sri Lanka
Context: Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared an Emergency on April 1 as thousands of people came out on the streets to protest the crippling power cuts and shortages of essential commodities caused by the country’s economic meltdown. This is the second time within a year that Rajapaksa has resorted to this measure — he declared an Emergency on […]
Why WHO suspended Covaxin?
Context: Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that it has suspended the supply of Covaxin through UN procurement agencies and recommended to countries that received the vaccine to take actions as “appropriate”. Relevance: GS II- Health Dimensions of the Article Why has the WHO taken this step now? What did the WHO inspection find? Why did the company not […]
What Are Fundamental Duties?
Context: Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal said that there was no need to enact specific laws to “enforce” fundamental duties on citizens. Relevance: GS II- Polity (Indian Constitution) Dimensions of the Article: What really is the situation? How were the fundamental duties incorporated in the Constitution? What are the fundamental duties of the citizen? What really is […]
Puri Jagannath Temple
Context: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has asked the Odisha government to tweak its much vaunted Shree Mandira Parikrama Project (SMPP) — a massive beautification project around the 12th-century Jagannath temple in Puri — which has already run into a controversy. Relevance: GS I- Art and Architecture Dimensions of the Article: Shree Mandira Parikrama […]
Ken-Betwa Link Project
Focus: GS III- Environment Why in News? A comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the proposed Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP) has been carried out to identify positive and negative impacts of the project on physical, biological and socio-economic environment. It is estimated that total submergence due to Daudhan reservoir shall be about 9,000 […]
Operation Upalabdh
Focus: GS II- Government Policies and Interventions Why in News? Under Operation Upalabdh, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) began a pan-India drive against accused black marketeers. What is the purpose of Operation Upalabdh? The month-long Operation Upalabdh campaign was successful in significantly reducing the activity of touts and making railway tickets more accessible to the […]
Conservation of Sacred Groves
Context India’s sacred groves are being gradually altered due to ever-expanding human populations, pollution and removal of biomass; effective conservation is the need of the hour to maintain their functional values Relevance GS-III: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment. Dimensions of the Article What are Sacred Groves? Historical References Regulation and Activities inside […]
Resolution on Chandigarh
Context: The longstanding dispute between Punjab and Haryana over Chandigarh flared up this week after the Centre notified Central Service Rules for employees in the Union Territory instead of the Punjab Service Rules. The Centre had earlier tweaked rules for appointments to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) — recruitments can now be done from […]
UNEP Report On Noise Pollution
Context: A February report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme on the environmental challenges posed by noise, wildfires and the disruption of biological rhythms of plants, animals and ecological cycles became controversial on account of the mention of a single city, Moradabad. Relevance: GS III- Environment and Ecology Dimensions of the Article: What was […]