Income Tax Dept. surveys BBC over Transfer Pricing allegations

Central idea: The Income Tax Department has conducted surveys at the premises of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi and Mumbai. The BBC has been deliberately violative of transfer pricing rules. Transfer Pricing: A Tax Evasion Technique Transfer pricing refers to the practice of determining the price at which goods, services or intangible property… Continue reading

Vacancy of Deputy Speaker Chair in States

The Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre and five states — Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand — over the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker. The Post of Deputy Speaker The Deputy Speaker is the second-highest-ranking official of the Lok Sabha, after the Speaker. She/he presides over the House in the… Continue reading

InfoCrop v2.1: Indigenous Crop Simulator

Central idea: Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute conducted an experiment using InfoCrop version 2.1 to quantify the impact of hot weather on crop yield in Punjab and Haryana. What is InfoCrop v2.1? InfoCrop version 2.1 is India’s only dynamic crop simulation model developed and released by the IARI in 2015 to study the… Continue reading

Marburg Virus

Central idea: Equatorial Guinea has confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease. Where is Equatorial Guinea located? Equatorial Guinea is a country located in Central Africa. It is situated on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the south and east. It also includes two small islands,… Continue reading

AI to improve maternal and child health in India

Context With the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies, there is potential for these tools to support maternal and neonatal healthcare in low-resource settings, although their development in this field is still in its early stages. AI has the capability of transforming maternal and child health in low and middle-income countries by… Continue reading

‘BIMARU’ Tag: What does this term mean?

Central idea: While addressing a summit in UP, PM recalled the tag of ‘BIMARU’, once used to describe the state. What are BIMARU states? The term “BIMARU” is an acronym formed from the first letters of five states – Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, and UP – that were believed to be economically and socially backward in… Continue reading

What is ‘Office of Profit’?

Central idea: Jharkhand CM’s chair remains uncertain as the Election Commission (EC) is understood to have conveyed its decision in an office-of-profit complaint against him to the Governor. Why in news? Under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the CM could face disqualification for entering into a government contract. The Constitution… Continue reading

India’s first Law Minister Dr. Ambedkar’s resignation letter missing from records

Dr. BR Ambedkar was India’s first Law Minister after independence. The letter of his resignation is now missing from official records. Dr Ambedkar as Law Minister Dr. B.R. Ambedkar served as Independent India’s first law minister. He was an Indian jurist, economist, politician, and social reforme, who was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990.… Continue reading

MIIRA: India readies plan to popularise millets on world stage

On the premises of G20, India is planning to propose the launch of a global initiative ‘MIIRA’ to encourage the consumption and production of millets. What are Millets? Millets are a group of small-seeded grasses that are commonly cultivated and consumed as staple foods in many parts of the world, including Africa and Asia. Millets… Continue reading

Central agencies gear up for FATF mutual evaluations

Central agencies, including the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), have begun preparations for the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) mutual evaluation process of India. What is the news? India is due to undergo the mutual evaluation process in the second half of 2022, which will assess the country’s compliance… Continue reading

Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics Bill, 2022

The draft Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill, 2022, aimed at protecting India’s geological heritage that includes fossils, sedimentary rocks, natural structures, has raised alarm in India’s geo-sciences and palaeontology community. Geo-heritage Sites and Geo-relics Bill, 2022 Objectives Protect and preserve the geo-heritage sites and geo-relics of national importance in India. Empower the… Continue reading

1st Saudi Women to space via Axiom-2 Mission

Central idea: Saudi Arabia will send its first-ever woman astronaut on the US-led Axiom 2 space mission later this year, in the latest move to revamp the kingdom’s ultra-conservative image. Axiom Mission 2 Axiom Mission 2 is a private spaceflight mission organized by Axiom Space, a Houston-based aerospace company. The mission is scheduled to launch… Continue reading

Role of regulators in the Stock Market

Context On 25 January, US-based Hindenburg Research put out a tweet, talking about a negative report on the Adani Group that it had published. The report made many allegations against the group which triggered a fall in the price of their listed stocks. Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers Just think of this situation… Continue reading

India’s Agricultural Farm Exports data expected to reach a new high

India’s agricultural exports are poised to scale a new peak in the financial year ending March 31, 2023. But so are imports, bringing down the overall farm trade surplus. Agriculture trade in a nutshell India’s agricultural exports are expected to reach a new high in FY 2022-23. The value of farm exports from April-December 2022… Continue reading

What is Bhashini Initiative?

Bhashini, a small team at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), is currently building a WhatsApp-based chatbot that relies on information generated by ChatGPT to return appropriate responses to queries. What is Bhashini Initiative? ‘Bhashini,’ one of these initiatives, is a local language translation mission that aims to break the barrier between various Indian… Continue reading

Who was Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati?

PM inaugurated celebrations commemorating Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birth anniversary. Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883) Dayanand Saraswati (born Mool Shankar Tiwari) was a religious leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement in the nineteenth century. He was a profound scholar of the Vedic lore and Sanskrit language. Dayanand was a great scholar, and was… Continue reading

Scientists discover new ‘Quasicrystals’

Scientists have discovered a new type of quasicrystal, one with 12-fold symmetry, in the Sand Hills of north central Nebraska, USA. What is a Quasicrystal? Quasicrystal is essentially a crystal-like substance. However, unlike a crystal, in which atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern, a quasicrystal consists of atoms that are arranged in a pattern… Continue reading

In news: Agasthyarkoodam Observatory

Agasthyarkoodam was once home to a forgotten and long-lost 19th-century observatory established by Scottish meteorologist John Allan Broun. Agasthyarkoodam Observatory The Agasthyarkoodam Observatory is an astronomical research observatory located in the state of Kerala. The observatory is situated at an altitude of 1600 meters above sea level and is owned and operated by the Indian… Continue reading

What is Solar Prominence?

Recently, the sun puzzled many scientists with a large prominence near its north pole. What is Solar Prominence? A solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun’s surface. Prominences are anchored to the Sun’s surface in the photosphere, and extend… Continue reading

Marine pollution: An Alarming Situation

Context A significant portion of single-use plastic gets piled up on coastlines and contributes to the growing burden of marine litter, endangering aquatic biodiversity. In India, anthropogenic activities add approximately eight million tonnes of plastic waste to the marine environment. Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers Plastic pollution menace The demand for plastic products… Continue reading

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