Category: Ranker Webinars

Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

B2B #1: From news- Only 20% of Clean Ganga Mission funds spent till March 2018

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

1. NMCG was registered as a society on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act 1860.
2. It acted as implementation arm of National Ganga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) which was constituted under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
3. The Act envisages five tier structure at national, state and district level to take measures for prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution in river Ganga and to ensure continuous adequate flow of water so as to rejuvenate the river Ganga as below;

• National Ganga Council under chairmanship of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.
• Empowered Task Force (ETF) on river Ganga under chairmanship of Hon’ble Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
• National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG).
• State Ganga Committees and
• District Ganga Committees in every specified district abutting river Ganga and its tributaries in the states.

1. MCG has a two tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive Committee.

B2B #2: From news-India merges anti-dumping, import safeguard bodies

Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR)

1. The Government of India carried out an Amendment to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 for the creation of an integrated single umbrella National Authority to be called the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) for providing comprehensive and swift trade defense mechanism in India
2. The amendment of Allocation of Business Rules has also mandated Department of Commerce with work pertaining to the recommendation of Safeguard measures
3. The DGTR will bring DGAD, DGS and Safeguards (QR) functions of DGFT into its fold by merging them into one single national entity
4. DGTR will deal with Anti-dumping, CVD and Safeguard measures
5. The DGTR will function as an attached office of Department of Commerce
6. The recommendation of DGTR for the imposition of Anti-dumping, countervailing & Safeguard duties would be considered by the Department of Revenue

As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

Name :  Joint Polar Satellite System-1

Details :  The satellite is the first of four next-generation spacecraft for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Agency :  NASA

Link for the test: Click2Attempt  (Let us know your score in comments)

We have started our Open SIP program in conjunction with our PAID program (Click2Know all details of the program)

We will be running this special FREE initiative on daily basis providing students with revision questions for static subjects as well as current affairs starting from June 2017

Test 32 as per schedule (Click2View) is Misc Test 9

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Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

B2B #1: From news- UN report for social inclusion

ESCAP

1. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is the regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region.
2. It is established in 1947 with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand.
3. Parent Organisation: UN ECOSOC
4. ESCAP works to overcome some of the region’s greatest challenges by providing results-oriented projects, technical assistance, and capacity building to member States in the following areas:

• Macroeconomic Policy and Development including the publishing of Asia-Pacific Development Journal (APDJ) twice a year
• Trade and Investment
• Transport
• Social Development
• Environment and Sustainable Development
• Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction
• Statistics
• Sub-regional activities for development

B2B #2: From news- Commission approves modern animal-free testing for drugs

Pyrogen Test

1. The pyrogen test is carried out to check impurity or substance that can cause adverse side-effects
2. For the test, the drug is injected into a rabbit and the animal is closely observed for feverish symptoms
3. The abnormal toxicity test is carried out to check potential hazardous biological contamination in vaccine formulations
4. This batch test is done before the product is approved for marketing. In this, mice or guinea pigs are injected with the vaccine. The scientists observe if there is the death of any animal.

As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

Name : AgniII

Defence Forces : Army

Module Type : Missiles

Brief Intro : 1.Agni-II, is a strategic ballistic missile. The Agni missile family is envisaged to be the mainstay of the Indian missile-based strategic nuclear deterrence. 2.The Agni-II is a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) with two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile’s Re-entry Vehicle (RV). . 3.The Agni-IIA is a more advanced version of Agni-II, albeit with more sophisticated and lighter materials, yielding a better range and operating regime. Agni-IIA was later renamed as Agni-IV plugging the gap between Agni-II and Agni-III. Range: 2000 Km

Link for the test: Click2Attempt  (Let us know your score in comments)

We have started our Open SIP program in conjunction with our PAID program (Click2Know all details of the program)

We will be running this special FREE initiative on daily basis providing students with revision questions for static subjects as well as current affairs starting from June 2017

Test 32 as per schedule (Click2View) is Misc Test 8

Liked the test? You can join our FLT program containing more such high-level questions. The module contains 11 FLTs (8 paper 1 TS + 3 CSAT)

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Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

B2B #1: From news- Western Ghats forest cover vital for Tamil Nadu’s South-West monsoon rainfall

Western Ghats

1. It is also known as Sahyadri (Benevolent Mountains) is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, located entirely in India
2. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight “hottest hot-spots” of biological diversity in the world It is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India
3. The range runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain, called Konkan, along the Arabian Sea
4. A total of thirty-nine properties including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests were designated as world heritage sites – twenty in Kerala, ten in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and four in Maharashtra

B2B #2: From news- Niti Aayog partners with Google to grow India’s artificial intelligence ecosystem

Machine Learning

1. Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed.
2. It is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed.
3. Machine learning focuses on the development of computer programs that can access data and use it learn for themselves.
4. The process of learning begins with observations or data, such as examples, direct experience, or instruction, in order to look for patterns in data and make better decisions in the future based on the examples that we provide.
5. In the past decade, machine learning has given us self-driving cars, practical speech recognition, effective web search, etc.
6. Examples: Google Assistant, Google Allo etc.

As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

Name : International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)

Recently in News because : Neeru Chadha won a crucial election to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), becoming the first Indian woman to be elected as judge to the tribunal

Objective : To adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Members : The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members elected by secret ballot by the States Parties to the Convention

Headquarters : Hamburg, Germany

Year Founded : Created by UNCLOS in 1982 (Came in force in 1994)

Link for the test: Click2Attempt  (Let us know your score in comments)

We have started our Open SIP program in conjunction with our PAID program (Click2Know all details of the program)

We will be running this special FREE initiative on daily basis providing students with revision questions for static subjects as well as current affairs starting from June 2017

Test 31 as per schedule (Click2View) is Misc Test 7 (Govt. Schemes)

Liked the test? You can join our FLT program containing more such high-level questions. The module contains 11 FLTs (8 paper 1 TS + 3 CSAT)

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Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

B2B #1: From news- Jaipur Foot to be exhibited at the U.N.

Jaipur Foot

1. The Jaipur Foot, also known as the Jaipur Leg, is a rubber-based prosthetic leg for people with below-knee amputations
2. Designed in and named after Jaipur, India, the prosthetic leg was designed to be inexpensive, water-resistant, and quick to fit and manufacture
3. The Jaipur Foot is made of polyurethane
4. It is fitted free of cost by Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti
5. The government of India supports Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti with financial aid to carry out the work done by the organization

B2B #2: From news- Inter-country child abduction: Central panel questions key principle of Hague Convention

Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

1. Hague Abduction Convention is a multilateral treaty developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) that provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another
2. The Convention was drafted to ensure the prompt return of children who have been abducted from their country of habitual residence or wrongfully retained in a contracting state not their country of habitual residence
3. The Convention applies only to children under the age of 16
4. The Convention requires that a court in which a Hague Convention action is filed should not consider the merits of any underlying child custody dispute, but should determine only that country in which those issues should be heard
5. The Convention mandates return of any child who was “habitually resident” in a contracting nation immediately before an action that constitutes a breach of custody or access rights
6. The Convention provides special rules for admission and consideration of evidence independent of the evidentiary standards set by any member nation
7. The Convention was concluded 25 October 1980 and entered into force between the signatories on 1 December 1983

As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

Name of the scheme : Digital India

Objectives : To transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy

Salient Features : The Digital India programme is centred on three key vision areas: – Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen -Governance & Services on Demand -Digital Empowerment of Citizens It aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely : -Broadband Highways, -Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, – Public Internet Access Programme, -e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, -e-Kranti – Electronic Delivery of Services, -Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing, -IT for Jobs and -Early Harvest Programmes

Nodal Ministry : The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)

Here are 2 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

B2B #1: From news- Accelerate efforts to end rabies: WHO to India, South East Asian countries

GAVI- the Vaccine Alliance

1. Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization is a public-private global health partnership committed to increasing access to immunization in poor countries
2. It is a global Vaccine Alliance with the goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries
3. Gavi brings together developing countries and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialized and developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists
4. Gavi was launched in 2000
5. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland

B2B #2: From news- MHA fast-tracks security clearance for overseas investment proposals

Revised National Security Clearance Policy, 2015

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs had formulated a new national security clearance policy in 2015 after the government decided to speed up projects, which were stuck for lack of approval by Intelligence Bureau (IB) or other agencies including the State police
2. It has introduced the National Security Clause as an important component of this Policy
3. It aims to extend fast-track security clearance to foreign investment proposals in the critical sectors such as telecom, private security, and defense while ensuring that national interests are not endangered
4. The clearance process aims to boost government’s ease-of-doing-business and Make in India initiative.
5. The policy has 15 parameters on which inputs from security agencies are sought. Once it has got an application from an investor, the Ministry decides on the status of security clearance to the company within 4-6 weeks.
6. As per the policy, the promoters, owners, and directors of the company are mandated to give self-declarations regarding any criminal history on their part, which reduced the period required to give security clearance from 2-3 months earlier to just 4-6 weeks now
7. Security inputs from the Intelligence Bureau, the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate and other agencies are sought only in cases of serious crimes and not in case of minor offenses

As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

Name : G-7

Brief Intro : The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal bloc of industrialized democracies—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—that meets annually to discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.

Objective : To discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.

Type : Summit/ Conference

Category : Economy

Year : 1975

Importance (wr. Prelims) : High

Key Terms/ Institutions spinoffs : Russia belonged to the forum from 1998 through 2014—then the Group of Eight (G8)—but was suspended after its annexation of Crimea in March of that year.

Link for the test: Click2Attempt  (Let us know your score in comments)

We have started our Open SIP program in conjunction with our PAID program (Click2Know all details of the program)

We will be running this special FREE initiative on daily basis providing students with revision questions for static subjects as well as current affairs starting from June 2017

Test 29 as per schedule (Click2View) is MISC Test 5

Liked the test? You can join our FLT program containing more such high-level questions. The module contains 11 FLTs (8 paper 1 TS + 3 CSAT)

Know all details about the program and join here: Click2Join

Want to do quick revision for Prelims? Join our SIP Comprehensive or SIP Mini modules giving you Static & Dynamic subjects coverage through video lectures

SIP Comprehensive- Samanvaya + Lectures + Notes + FLTs + CA Tests: Click2Join

SIP Mini- Samanvaya + Lectures + Notes: Click2Join

Here are 3 Back2Basics collections from today’s news items

B2B #1: From news-  India gold demand seen rising

World Gold Council

1. The World Gold Council is the market development organisation for the gold industry. It works across all parts of the industry, from gold mining to investment, and their aim is to stimulate and sustain demand for gold
2. They frequently publish research that demonstrates gold’s strength as a preserver of wealth – both for investors and countries
3. They also provide analysis of the industry, offering insights into the drivers of gold demand. They have also launched various products such as SPDR GLD and gold accumulation plans in India and China
4. The World Gold Council is an association whose members comprise the world’s leading gold mining companies
5. It helps to support its members to mine in a responsible way and developed the Conflict Free Gold Standard
6. Headquartered in London United Kingdom, they have offices in India, China, Singapore, Japan and the United States

B2B #2: From news- What Railways hope to learn from German Rail

Linke Hoffman Busche (LHB) coaches

1. LHB coaches are the passenger coaches of Indian Railways that have been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany
2. These coaches are produced by Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab
3. The coaches are designed for an operating speed up to 160 km/h and could go up to 200 km/h
4. During derailment or collision, these coaches do not climb over each and crash because of a special type of CBC (center buffer coupler)

B2B #3: From news- [op-ed snap] Acting against a judge

Impeachment of a Supreme Court Judge

1. Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India states: “A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity”
2. 100 Lok Sabha MPs or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs is the minimum number of signatories required to issue the notice
3. The notice has to be handed over either to the Speaker if it is from Lok Sabha MPs or to the Chairman if it is Rajya Sabha MPs
4. If and when the motion is admitted, the Speaker or the Chairman will have to constitute a three-member committee to investigate the charges leveled against the Supreme Court judge
5. This committee will consist of a senior Supreme Court judge, a High Court judge, and a ‘distinguished jurist’ — who is a highly qualified law professor who has been appointed as a Supreme Court judge by the President of India

As a part of revision for Prelims 2018, Here’s a Factoid to brush up your concepts

Key words related to History : Rajsuya

Dynasty/era : Vedic period

Meaning : – basically a ceremony for the consecration of a kind. It lasted for a day of prayers and sacrifices and extracting soma, but preceded by a long period, extending to maybe a year, during which time various preliminary rites were observed. During this ritual, the king received a bow and an arrow (or other weapons as the priest was advised) and declares himself the king. He performed various acts symbolising his conquests and was finally anointed by a priest, a kshatriya and a vaishya.