Why has Indian manufacturing been losing jobs since 2016?

The State of Working India (SWI) 2021 has documented the impact of one year of Covid-19 in India, on jobs, incomes, inequality, and poverty. Highlights of the SWI 2021 The SWI 2021 showed that the pandemic had forced people out of their formal jobs into casual work, and led to a severe decline in incomes.… Continue reading

ICMR drops Plasma Therapy for COVID-19

The use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19, according to an advisory from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Q.What is convalescent plasma therapy and what are the issues involved in its adoption? Convalescent Plasma Therapy The therapy seeks to make use of the antibodies developed in… Continue reading

Places in news: Leang Sakapao Caves

Researchers have reported that Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate. Have you ever found the mention of ‘Altamira Caves’ in your NCERTs? Leang Sakapao Caves This cave art of Sulawesi is much older than… Continue reading

Farzad B Gas Field

Iran gave the Farzad B gas field to a domestic gas producer in a setback move to India. Farzad B Gas Field Farzad-B is an off-shore natural gas field 20 kilometres off Farsi Island in Iran. The gas field was discovered in 2008 by a consortium of three Indian companies, led by the state-owned ONGC… Continue reading

Article 311 of the Indian Constitution

A suspended Maharashtra police officer was dismissed from service by Mumbai Police Commissioner under Article 311 (2) (b) of the Indian Constitution without a departmental enquiry. What is Article 311? Article 311 says that no government employee either of an all India service or a state government shall be dismissed or removed by an authority… Continue reading

Cyclone Tauktae

Cyclone Tauktae (pronounced Tau-Te), classified as a very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS) and developed in the Arabian Sea, is wreaking havoc all across the Indian Coast. Don’t you think? In recent years, strong cyclones have been developing in the Arabian Sea more frequently than earlier. Cyclone Tauktae Tauktae is a currently active and strengthening tropical… Continue reading

Tianwen-1 lands successfully on Mars

China landed a spacecraft on Mars carrying its first Mars rover in a big boost to its space ambitions. UPSC may ask an MCQ asking: Which of the following is/are the space missions related to Mars? It may throw up 4-5 options (which we all get confused at after few months) like Cassini , InSight… Continue reading

Mucormycosis infection in COVID-19 patients

Hospitals across the country have started to report a number of cases of Mucormycosis, an invasive fungal infection affecting patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19. What is Mucormycosis? Mucormycosis is an aggressive and invasive fungal infection caused by a group of moulds called micromycetes. It can affect various organs but is currently manifesting as… Continue reading

2-DG: DRDO’s new oral drug for Covid-19

Defence Minister has released the first batch of the indigenously developed anti-Covid-19 drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose or ‘2-DG’. What is the news? The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had cleared the formulation on May 1 for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid-19 patients. What is 2-DG? 2-DG has been developed by… Continue reading

Socio-Economic Impact of Pandemic on Women

The article highlights the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women and suggests measures to soften the impact. Widening gender employment gap Even prior to 2020, the gender employment gap was large. Only 18% of working-age women were employed as compared to 75% of men. Reasons include a lack of good jobs, restrictive social norms,… Continue reading

RBI should return to its dharma of taming inflation

The article highlights the need for the RBI to focus on inflation instead of pursuing elusive growth. Is inflation at a level to be concerned about? Due to the devastation caused by the pandemic, MPC kept its stance to ‘look through’ the sustained rise in prices through much of last year. The release of the… Continue reading

Indo-Japan Relations

Context India’s growing economic strength in recent years has seen it adapting its foreign policy to increase its global influence and status and to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In the past few years, New Delhi has expanded its strategic vision, most noticeably in Asia, and has broadened the definition of its security… Continue reading

Israel’s Iron Dome rocket defence system

Context Amid the Israel-Palestine conflict, the night sky over Israel has been ablaze with interceptor missiles from Iron Dome shooting down the incoming rockets in the sky. What is Iron Dome? Iron Dome is a multi-mission system capable of intercepting rockets, artillery, mortars and Precision Guided Munitions as well as aircraft, helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles… Continue reading

No virtual meets of standing committees

Confidential nature of meeting not possible in virtual meetings Days after the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha wrote to Chairman to allow virtual meetings of parliamentary standing committees, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has turned down his plea. Requests to allow virtual meetings of the standing committees were turned down last year as well by… Continue reading

NITI Aayog’s proposal of allowing private entities to take over district hospitals

The article highlights the issue of shortage of doctors in India and issues with the involvement of private sector in it. Government approach Market-oriented approach towards medical education: NITI Aayog’s proposal of allowing private entities to take over district hospitals for converting them into teaching hospitals with at least 150 MBBS seats.

Remittance received by India remain unaffected by pandemic

What the World Bank report says India received over USD 83 billion in remittances in 2020, according to a World Bank report. In 2019, India had received USD 83.3 billion in remittances. The report said India’s remittances fell by just 0.2 per cent in 2020. Much of the decline was due to a 17 per… Continue reading

App to view live proceedings of SC launched for media persons

App to view virtual proceedings Chief Justice of India launched a mobile app that would allow media persons to view the Supreme Court’s virtual proceedings live on their mobile phones. The role of the media assumes importance in the process of disseminating information. Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said the facility, which is now temporary, could be… Continue reading

Issues with MHA notification for OCI

About notification The Home Ministry’s March 4 order that required professional Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), such as journalists, engineers and researchers, to notify the Ministry about their activities in India. The notification said that OCIs shall be required to obtain a “special permission or a special permit” from the competent authority or the Foreigners… Continue reading

India resists Community Transmission tag despite soaring cases

How other countries are classifying themselves Inspite of adding the highest number of cases in the world every day, India continues to label itself as a country with no community transmission (CT) according to the latest weekly report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on May 11. India opts for the lower, less serious classification… Continue reading

Black marketing during the pandemic

The article highlights the issue of black-marketing of drugs during the pandemic and the factors responsible for it. Problem of fake and sub-standard drugs There have been reports of fake remdesivir amid the Covid pandemic. It is difficult to quantify the morbidity and mortality effects of fake or sub-standard drugs, but they are substantial. Legally,… Continue reading

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