[Sansad TV] Perspective: Semiconductor Industry & India

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here) Context Semiconductors are essential to almost all sectors of the economy including aerospace, automobiles, communications, clean energy, information technology and medical devices etc. Demand for these critical components has outstripped supply, creating a global chip shortage and resulting in lost growth and… Continue reading

Highlights of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5 Part: II

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5. What is NFHS? The NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India. The IIPS is the… Continue reading

What is Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR)?

The Punjab government recently announced Rs 1,500 incentive per acre for farmers opting for Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR), which is known for saving water. What is DSR technique? In transplanting, farmers prepare nurseries where the paddy seeds are first sown and raised into young plants. These seedlings are then uprooted and replanted 25-35 days… Continue reading

ISRO’s goal for Venus Mission

India’s Venus mission has been conceived. The project report for ‘Shukrayaan-I’ – the name given to ISRO’s Venus mission About Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. It’s one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s often called Earth’s twin because it’s similar in… Continue reading

[Burning Issue] National Language Debate

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here) Context With over twenty regional languages, each with its own culture and history, language was always going to be a tricky issue for India. Remarks by a notable Hindi actor to the effect that Hindi is the national language of India has… Continue reading

Let’s make GST a good and simple tax

Context The GST has been a remarkable achievement and a unique experiment in cooperative federalism. In this, both the Union and the state governments gave up their tax autonomy in favour of harmonising domestic trade taxes. Multiple rates: A major shortcoming in the structure of GST One of the most important shortcomings in the structure… Continue reading

How India’s new VPN rules change the Status Quo?

Recently, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) issued new directives that require Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers to store user data for five years. What is VPN? VPN describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks. It encrypts internet traffic and disguise a user’s online identity. This makes it… Continue reading

President has no role to play in Perarivalan’s plea: SC

The Supreme Court has disagreed with the Central government’s suggestion that the court should wait till the President took a call on former PM’s assassination case convict A.G. Perarivalan’s mercy plea referred to him by the Tamil Nadu Governor for a decision. Why in news now? The Bench of the Supreme Court said that the… Continue reading

GST Compensation dues

The West Bengal CM has said that slashing State levies on petrol and diesel will be possible only if the Centre clears its outstanding dues of over ₹97,000 crore, which includes compensation for implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST). What is GST? GST launched in India on 1 July 2017 is a comprehensive indirect… Continue reading

Civil Registration System Report, 2020

The Civil Registration System (CRS) report 2020 was released at least a month before its schedule. What is Civil Registration System (CRS)? The CRS collates data on all births and deaths registered with local authorities across India. The CRS report is released by the Registrar-General of India. It releases its report around 18 months after a… Continue reading

India-Germany relations

Context Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Berlin for the sixth Indo-German Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) is significant for its timing and substantial results. Strategic and economic importance of India-German ties The timing of the IGC, which Germany chose not to delay, showed outreach to India and the Indo-Pacific. Impact of pandemic on economy: The pandemic… Continue reading

India slips to 150 in Press Freedom Index

India has reached 150th position in the World Press Freedom Index, dropping further from its last year’s 142nd rank out of 180 countries. What is Press Freedom Index? The PFI is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002. It is based upon the organisation’s own assessment of the… Continue reading

France pulls out of P-75I Project

Ahead of PM Modi’s scheduled visit, France has denounced its participation in the P-75 India (P-75I) project under which six conventional submarines are to be built in India for the Indian Navy. Why did France pull out? The reason was that the Request for Proposal (RFP) requires that the fuel cell AIP be sea proven,… Continue reading

Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) passes validation trials

The indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully completed the validation trials. Why in news? The ATAGS has demonstrated a range of over 45 km, making it the “most consistent and accurate gun in the world”. ATAG System The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery… Continue reading

[Yojana Archive] Fintech Beyond Boundaries

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here) Context FinTech is rapidly changing the face of the banking industry, as several banks are now switching to digitization as well as paperless and cashless processes. Fintech in India: A backgrounder With the establishment of two institutions in 2009, India’s fintech journey… Continue reading

[pib] National Open Access Registry (NOAR)

National Open Access Registry (NOAR) has successfully gone live from 1st May 2022. What is NOAR? NOAR is a centralized online platform through which the short-term open access to the inter-state transmission system is being managed in India. It is an integrated platform accessible to all stakeholders in the power sector, including open access customers… Continue reading

[Burning Issue] India-EU Relations

UPSC 2023 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here) Context President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen was on two–day official visit to India. She has heaped all praises for the robustness of Indian democracy. She went on to say that ‘World Watches When Indians Cast Their Vote’. Both… Continue reading

Recent woes of the jute industry in West Bengal

Member of Parliament (MP) from Barrackpore constituency in West Bengal met the Union Textile about issues concerning jute farmers, workers and the overall jute industry. What is the news? The Barrackpore MP had earlier written to West Bengal CM, seeking her intervention into the “arbitrary decision” of capping the price for procuring raw jute from… Continue reading

What is the Delhi Dual Governance Conundrum?

New Delhi has been at the flashpoint of innumerable power struggles these days. Why in news? In the absence of statehood for Delhi, there has been a prolonged confrontation on the relative powers of the territorial administration and the Union government. Dilemmas of Dual Governance Article 239AA of the Constitution of India granted Special Status… Continue reading

Loudspeaker Crackdown: Court orders and Govt directives

Illegal and unauthorized loudspeakers had been taken down across the Uttar Pradesh and their loudness had been capped, under “an existing government order of 2018, and set rules for sound decibel limits and court directions”. What is the news? The UP state authorities have taken action since the loudspeaker crackdown began in our country. Notices… Continue reading

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