What are Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)?

The Union Budget has announced Rs 2,516 crore for computerization of 63,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) over the next five years. Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the… Continue reading

What are White Label ATMs?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the validity of authorization issued to Vakrangee to setup, own and operate White Label ATMs in India. What is White Label ATM? Usually ATMs are managed by banks. But White Label ATMs are owned and operated by non-banking entities. ATMs operated under this business model allow customers… Continue reading

Bard: Google’s answer to ‘ChatGPT’

Google has finally decided to answer the challenge and threat posed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI and its AI chatbot- ChatGPT. What is Bard, when can I access it? Google’s Bard is functioned on LaMDA, the firm’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications system, and has been in development for several years. It is what Sunder Pichai termed… Continue reading

Chinese balloon over the US and India as a Peacemaker

Context On 1 February, a high-altitude balloon of Chinese origin was spotted over the US state of Montana, which also houses one of the country’s three active nuclear missile silos. on 4 February, US forces shot down the balloon over the country’s South Carolina coast and are now proceeding to collect some of the debris.… Continue reading

Urban space for women: India can show the path

Context More than half of the population worldwide lives in cities, making urban centres critical to socioeconomic growth and development. However, rampant urbanisation has led to unequal distribution of resources and a lopsided development approach that ignores the specific needs of women. Despite projections of two-thirds of the population living in cities by 2050, urban… Continue reading

Budget and the Rural Economy

Context Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2023-24. Union budgets can be understood in two ways. The first is as a standard accounting exercise of the government’s revenues and expenditures. It is this second aspect that provides insight into the government’s assessment of the challenges facing the economy and ways to overcome… Continue reading

Turkey hit by series of powerful Earthquakes: The science behind it

More than 4000 people died and several hundred were injured after a major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 hit south-central Turkey and Northwest Syria. What is an Earthquake? An earthquake is an intense shaking of the ground caused by movement under the earth’s surface. It happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one… Continue reading

NASA-ISRO partnership’s NISAR and its Mission

An earth-observation satellite NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) jointly developed by NASA and ISRO is all set to be shipped to India later this month for a possible launch in September. What is NISAR? NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed in 2014. The 2,800… Continue reading

In news: Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to form a special committee to trace and certify 24 protected monuments that have gone “missing”. Why in news? PMO has in a report last month said there was an urgent need to “rationalise” the list of monuments of national importance. Sites in news Barakhamba Cemetery temple… Continue reading

[pib] Yuva Sangam Portal

The Union Ministry of Education has launched the “Yuva Sangam” registration portal. Yuva Sangam The Yuva Sangam is an initiative of Hon’ble Prime Minister to build close ties between the youth of North East Region and rest of India under the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat. Yuva Sangam embodies the philosophy of our rich… Continue reading

Micro hydro systems: An alternative source of energy

Context The crisis unfolding in Joshimath for over a month has led to conversations on the relevance of hydropower in the Himalayan region. Two years ago, a glacier burst led to question marks over the Rishiganga hydroelectric project in Uttarakhand. What is hydropower Hydropower generates electricity from the natural flow of water without releasing any… Continue reading

MISHTI: Budgetary push for Mangroves

The Union Budget for 2023-24 announced an initiative for mangrove plantation along the coastline and on saltpan lands, under MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes). MISHTI MISHTI is a new programme that will facilitate mangrove plantation along India’s coastline and on salt pan lands. This new programme will aim at intensive afforestation… Continue reading

73rd establishment day of Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India is hosting its celebration of the 73rd anniversary of its establishment today. Why in news? This year’s event is being aired on social media platforms and will witness Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is of Indian origin, as the chief guest. When was the Supreme Court founded? On January… Continue reading

What is the North Star?

Vice President said Parliament is the “North Star” of democracy, “a place of discussion and deliberation to realize the aspirations and dreams of the people”. What is North Star? North Star is a metaphor to refer to something constant/permanent that leads and provides direction. Polaris, also known as the North Star or the Pole Star,… Continue reading

Muons and their use to analyse large structures

As per a new study, researchers are examining the fortress wall of Xi’an, an ancient city in China, by using tiny outer space particles ‘Muon’ that can penetrate hundreds of metres of stone surfaces. What are Muons? Muons are subatomic particles raining from space. They are created when the particles in Earth’s atmosphere collide with… Continue reading

Crackdown against child marriage in Assam

Context The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for global action to end human rights violations by 2030. There has been tremendous development in India on that front, as seen, for example, in the decline in child marriage from 47.4 per cent in 2005 to 23.3 per cent in 2021. The year 2021 also marked… Continue reading

Budget and the Health expenditure

Context In her 2023-24 Union Budget speech, the finance minister announced that the total central government budget for health (not including research) will be roughly Rs 86,175 crore ($10 billion) that is, roughly Rs 615 for every citizen. This is a 2.7 per cent increase from the previous fiscal year and lower than the rate… Continue reading

Artificial intelligence(AI): An immediate challenge flagged by ChatGPT

Context With the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT late last year, the impending changes in the nature of work, creativity and economy as a whole have moved from being the subject of futuristic jargon to an immediate challenge. Crack Prelims 2023! Talk to our Rankers Background Since at least 2015 when Klaus Schwab popularised the… Continue reading

Two years of Myanmar Coup and Concerns for India

It is exactly two years since the Myanmar army seized power. Myanmar Coup: A quick recap A coup in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country’s ruling party, were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar’s military. The coup occurred the day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due… Continue reading

What are Shaligram Stones?

Two sacred Shaligram stones arrived in Ayodhya for crafting the idols of Lord Ram and Janaki at the Ram Temple. What is a Shaligram Stones? Shaligram stones are fossils of ammonite, which is a type of mollusk that lived between 400 million and 65 million years ago. They are found in the Shaligram Pilgrimage in… Continue reading

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