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  • Which Is Your Weakest Subject? Here’s How You Can Change That | FREE Habitat clubs – Daily timetable released.

    Which Is Your Weakest Subject? Here’s How You Can Change That | FREE Habitat clubs – Daily timetable released.

    Everyone has a subject they feel they are weak in. It could be Current Affairs, Polity, Geography, History, or something else. Which one is yours?

    Remember: You cannot go for UPSC exams with a weak subject. You need to improve that.

    To solve this problem for students, Habitat has designed specific clubs that will help you improve your weak subjects and score more. You can choose the club based on your needs!

    Check out the free habitat clubs

    What are the benefits you get on joining the club? How can it help you score more?

    1. Complete coverage of syllabus with revision.
    2. Conversation-based learning that improves your retention abilities.
    3. Focused learning, concentrated on the most important topics that you can’t miss.
    4. Instant feedback from experienced mentors. 
    5. Timely completion of syllabus to save your time.
    6. Evaluation, Answer Writing Practice, And Model Answers.
    7. Consistent support to keep you motivated.
    8. Discussions, doubt sessions, and updated study materials.
    Everything You Need To Succeed Is Here – join free habitat club

    Here are the different clubs you can join:

    SociologyAakash6:00 am
    Revise Economics for IAS PrelimsRavi Ranjan11:00 am
    Sadya Sampoorna: Modern HistoryAddya Rai12:30 pm
    Samadhan CSATRavi Ranjan2:00 pm
    UPSC EPFORohit Yadav3:00 pm
    Chat pe News: Current AffairsAnjum Sharma4:30 pm
    Destroy Prelims: score boosterZeeshan Hashmi5:30 pm
    Indian society and Social IssuesSiddharth 6:30 pm
    Samvad- Physical geography through MCQsRadhika Didwania7:30 pm
    Economics GamifiedAmoghavarsha8:30 pm
    Finish Laxmikant through MCQsZeeshan Hashmi9:00 pm
    Parakram Answer Writing sessionRohit Yadav9:30 pm
    Post dinner MCQs for IAS prelimsAmitB10:15 pm

    And many more…

    Whatever you need, we have it here

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  • Issues faced by India’s sexual minorities

    The article highlights the plight of sexual minorities despite the landmark judgments by the Supreme Court.

    Role played by the judiciary

    • The Delhi High Court’s verdict in Naz Foundation vs Government of NCT of Delhi (2009) was a landmark in the law of sexuality and equality jurisprudence in India.
    • The court held that Section 377 offended the guarantee of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution, because it creates an unreasonable classification and targets homosexuals as a class.
    • In a retrograde step, the Supreme Court, in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs Naz Foundation (2013), reinstated Section 377 to the IPC.
    • However, the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. vs Union of India (2018) declared that the application of Section 377 IPC to consensual homosexual behaviour was “unconstitutional”.
    • This Supreme Court judgment has been a great victory to the Indian individual in his quest for identity and dignity.
    • It also underscored the doctrine of progressive realisation of rights.

    No legal sanction to same-sex marriage

    • Despite the judgments of the Supreme Court, there is still a lot of discrimination against sexual minorities in matters of employment, health and personal relationship.
    • The Union of India has recently opposed any move to accord legal sanction to same-sex marriages in India.
    • The Union of India stated that the decriminalisation of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code does not automatically translate into a fundamental right for same sex couples to marry. 
    • The U.S. Supreme Court, in Obergefell vs Hodges (2015) underscored the emotional and social value of the institution of marriage and asserted that the universal human right of marriage should not be denied to a same-sex couple.
    • Indian society and the state should synchronise themselves with changing trends.

    Need to amend Article 15 to prohibit discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation

    • Article 15 secures the citizens from every sort of discrimination by the state, on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth or any of them.
    • The grounds of non-discrimination should be expanded by including gender and sexual orientation.
    • In May 1996, South Africa became the first country to constitutionally prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
    • The United Kingdom passed the “Alan Turing law” in 2017 which ‘granted amnesty and pardon to the men who were cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts’.

    Way forward

    • Justice Rohinton F. Nariman had directed in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors., the Government to sensitise the general public and officials, to reduce and finally eliminate the stigma associated with LGBTQ+ community through the mass media and the official channels.
    • School and university students too should be sensitised about the diversity of sexuality to deconstruct the myth of heteronormativity.
    • Heteronormativity is the root cause of hetero-sexism and homophobia.

    Conclusion

    It is time for change, but the burden should not be left to the powers that be. The onus remains with the civil society, the citizenry concerned and the LGBTQ+ community itself.

  • 28th June 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 689]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 689]

  • 28th June 2021| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement(AWE)

    Topics for Today’s questions:

    GS-1   Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & Secularism.

    GS-2  Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

    GS-3  Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment; 
    Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.


    GS-4 Ethical issues in international relations.

     

    Questions:

    Question 1)

     

    Q.1) Secessionist movements can be tackled by addressing Regional aspirations in an effective and compassionate manner. In light of given statement explain how India addressed it’s secessionist problems. (15 marks)

     

    Question 2)

    Q.2) A recent circular by the University Grants Commission (UGC) proposes a blended mode of teaching in which all higher educational institutions (HEI) teach a part of any course online and the rest offline. Examine the advantages and challenges that such a blended mode would face. (10 marks)

    Question 3)

    Q.3) Examine the importance of microfinance in India. What were the regulatory challenges faced by the microfinance institutions and how a Consultative Document by the RBI help dealing with these challenges? (15 marks)

    Question 4)  

    Q.4) Amidst various Challenges that the world is facing today to ensure harmony among the nations and Welfare of the humanity a broad ethical framework for international relations is the need of the hour. (10 marks)

     

    HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?

    1. Daily 4 questions from General studies 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be provided to you.

    2. A Mentor’s Comment will be available for all answers. This can be used as a guidance tool but we encourage you to write original answers.

    3. You can write your answer on an A4 sheet and scan/click pictures of the same.

    4.  Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.

    5. Along with the scanned answer, please share your Razor payment ID, so that paid members are given priority.

    6. If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 1st June is uploaded on 1st June then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis

    7. If you are writing answers late, for example, 1st June is uploaded on 3rd June, then these answers will be evaluated as per the mentor’s schedule.

    8. We encourage you to write answers on the same day. However, if you are uploading an answer late then tag the mentor like @Swatantra so that the mentor is notified about your answer.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. Swatantra Sir’s tag is available, tag him.

    For the philosophy of AWE and payment: 

    CLICK HERE To join Daily AWE

  • Tackling vaccine hesitancy challenge in rural India

    In rural India, concerns about COVID-19 vaccines are now increasingly commonplace.

    Vaccination dilemma these days

    • People voice their concern about what will happen to them if they get vaccinated and have doubts that the government is sending inferior quality vaccines to them.
    • Vaccination sessions in local health centers often see very few or no takers.
    • In contrast, urban vaccination sites face increased demand, especially in the 18-45 age group, and vaccine shortage is a major issue.
    • From a public health and equity perspective, this is a cause for worry.

    Why this failure?

    • The fear of vaccines and rural communities not only resisting but also outright rejecting vaccination is a reality.
    • Efforts by local health authorities to create awareness and convince people are of little avail.
    • There are contrasting dimensions to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout: one where people are enthusiastically accepting it and the other of resistance.
    • There are many diverse factors at play in this, which may go beyond the health concerns and have more to do with socio-anthropological aspects of health-seeking behavior.

    Vaccine hesitancy

    • Vaccine hesitancy refers to delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services.
    • It is complex and context-specific varying across time, place, and vaccines.
    • It is influenced by factors such as complacency, convenience, and confidence.

    Its scope

    • Vaccine hesitancy is not a recent phenomenon. It is neither limited to a particular community or country nor have we seen it only in the context of COVID-19.
    • We have also seen vaccine hesitancy among the urban and the more educated or ‘aware’ populations, with pockets of populations of socio-economically well-off communities refusing to get their kids vaccinated.
    • While vaccine hesitancy can lead to a firm rejection of vaccines, there’s also a possibility of people changing their perceptions over time.

    Socio-cultural context behind

    • Most of our fears and apprehensions stem from a deep impact of something adverse or unfavorable that we have personally experienced or our social circles have experienced.
    • Over time these become our beliefs, our innate guards.
    • In the context of the concerns described at the beginning of this article, we must look at vaccine hesitancy from a distinct lens of fear and not necessarily skepticism for new vaccines.
    • Rather, they seem to indicate deep-seated fears and belief in conspiracies, the fear of perhaps being discriminated and deceived, and of being omitted (from societal benefits).

    Building trust

    • Communities might not see the impact of a vaccine instantly, as it’s usually preventive in nature rather than curative.
    • People are used to taking medications or intravenous fluids when they are unwell or in pain, and they may feel better almost immediately, but that’s not the case with vaccines.
    • On the contrary, vaccines administered to a healthy person may lead to occasional side effects like fever, body aches, etc.
    • Add to those rumors about deaths post-vaccination, and it may not be so easy for people to get convinced about the vaccines.

    Way ahead

    • Addressing vaccine hesitancy in rural India would first of all require health systems to be honest and transparent.
    • Create awareness, let people know how vaccines work, how they help prevent disease, what are the probable side effects and how they can be managed.
    • Health authorities need to be comfortable about people raising questions while providing the answers as best as possible.
    • Being cognizant of local cultural sensitivities and working with trusted intermediaries is important in this effort.
    • Sustained and meaningful efforts need to be made to build trust, gain the confidence of communities and meet their expectations.
    • Even more crucial is to engage communities in planning, execution, and monitoring of health care services at all levels.

  • Digital Millennium Copyright Act

    Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology was locked out of his Twitter account for an hour allegedly over a notice received for violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

    Why such a move by Twitter?

    • The DMCA oversees the implementation of two 1996 treaties signed by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member nations.

    What is the DMCA?

    • The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, is a 1998 law passed in the US and is among the world’s first laws recognizing intellectual property on the internet.
    • The law oversees the implementation of the two treaties signed and agreed upon by member nations of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1996.
    • WIPO members had then agreed upon two treaties, namely the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
    • The said protection, accorded by each member state, must not be any less in any way than the one being given to a domestic copyright holder.
    • Further, it also obligates those signatories to the treaty to ensure ways to prevent circumvention of the technical measures used to protect copyrighted work.
    • It also provides the necessary international legal protection to digital content.

    What is WIPO and how does it ensure the protection of content on the internet?

    • The rapid commercialization of the internet in the late 1990s started with static advertisement panels being displayed on the internet.
    • It became important for website owners to get the user to spend more time on their webpage.
    • For this, fresh content was generated by creators and shared over the Internet.
    • The problem started when the content would be copied by unscrupulous websites or users, who did not generate content on their own.
    • Further, as the Internet expanded worldwide, websites from countries other than the one where the content originated, also started to copy the unique content generated by the websites.
    • To avoid this and bring to task the unauthorized copiers, the members of WIPO, which was established in 1967, also agreed to extend the copyright and intellectual property protection to digital content.
    • As of date, 193 nations across the world, including India, are members of WIPO.

    Who can generate a DMCA notice and how are they sent to companies or websites?

    • Any content creator of any form, who believes that their original content has been copied by the user or a website without authorization can file an application citing their intellectual property has been stolen or violated.
    • Users can either approach the website on which the content has been hosted, or third-party service providers like DMCA.com, which utilize a team of experts to help take down the stolen content for a small fee.
    • In the case of social media intermediaries like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, content creators can directly approach the platform with proof of them being original creators.
    • Since these companies operate in nations that are signatories to the WIPO treaty, they are obligated to remove the said content if they receive a valid and legal DMCA takedown notice.
    • Platforms, however, also give the other users against whom allegations of content cheating have been made, a chance to reply to the DMCA notice by filing a counter-notice.
    • The platform shall then decide which party is telling the truth and shall accordingly, either restore the content or keep it hidden.

  • MCA raises threshold of Small and Medium Companies

    The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has expanded the turnover and borrowing thresholds for Small and Medium-sized Companies (SMC), allowing a larger number of firms to benefit from reporting exemptions under accounting norms.

    What is the change?

    • The MCA has increased the turnover threshold for SMCs to Rs 250 crore from Rs 50 crore, and the borrowing threshold to Rs 50 crore from Rs 10 crore.
    • SMCs are permitted to avail a number of exemptions under the Company (Accounting Standards) Rule 2021 to reduce the complexity of regulatory filings for smaller firms.
    • Banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, and listed companies cannot be classified as SMCs.
    • Further, any company which is either the holding company or subsidiary of a company that is not an SMC cannot be classified as an SMC.

    What are the exemptions available to SMCs that are not available to other firms?

    • SMC are completely exempted from having to file cash flow statements and provide a segmental break up of their financial performance in mandatory filings.
    • SMCs can also avail partial reporting exemptions in areas including reporting on employee benefits obligations such as pensions.
    • SMCs are exempted from having to provide a detailed analysis of benefit obligations to employees, but are still required to provide actuarial assumptions used in valuing the company’s obligations to employees.
    • SMCs are also exempted from having to report diluted earnings per share in their filings.
    • Diluted earnings per share reflect the per-share earnings of a company assuming that all options to convert other securities into shares are exercised.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q. What is/ are the recent policy initiative(s) of the Government of India to promote the growth of the manufacturing sector?

    1. Setting up of National Investment and Manufacturing Zones.
    2. Providing the benefit of single window clearance.
    3. Establishing the Technology Acquisition and Development Fund.

    Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    How does this impact these firms?

    • Experts have noted that the move would promote ease of doing business for the firms that would now be included under the definition of SMC.
    • The Accounting Standards for SMC, which were notified in December 2006 and amended from time to time, are much simpler as compared to Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS).
    • These accounting standards involve less complexity in their application, including the number of required disclosures being less onerous.
    • Ind AS standards are applied to larger firms and are largely similar to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used in most developed jurisdictions.

  • Skull found in China represents a new human species

    Scientists have announced that a skull discovered in northeast China represents a newly discovered human species they have named Homo longi, or “Dragon Man”.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.The word ‘Denisovan’ is sometimes mentioned in media in reference to (CSP 2019):

    (a) fossils of a kind of dinosaurs

    (b) an early human species

    (c) a cave system found in North-East India.

    (d) a geological period in the history of Indian subcontinent

    Who is the “Dragon Man”, the latest Chinese discovery?

    • The cranium found in China has been dubbed the “Dragaon Man” or Homo longi, a name that has been derived from the Long Jiang or Dragon River in the Heilongjiang province of China where the city of Harbin is located.
    • The skull was reportedly discovered back in 1933, when a bridge was built over the Songhua River.
    • For thousands of years, the skull remained buried in sediments.
    • Because of the distinctive shape of the skull, which was found almost complete, some members of the team have suggested that it be declared a part of a new species of the genus Homo.
    • Significantly, the size of the skull, which has a considerable brain capacity, is comparable to that of modern humans and Neanderthals.

    Why is this discovery being considered significant?

    • For one, it brings new knowledge about the evolution of Homo sapiens.
    • It might help to bridge the gaps between our ancient ancestors called Homo erectus and us.
    • This knowledge is important because there is very little consensus in the scientific community about how different human species are related, and which species are our immediate ancestors.
    • Smithsonian for instance notes that some palaeontologists believe Homo heidelbergensis to be our immediate ancestors.
    • This species was discovered in 1908, and lived about 700,000 to 200,000 years ago in Europe and possibly China and some parts of Africa.

    Back2Basics: Species of Humans

    • Modern humans are the only human species that exist in the world today.
    • While the exact number of human species is a matter of debate, most scientists believe that there are at least 21 of them.

    As per the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, there are over 21 human species.  Major among these are:

    (1) Sahelanthropus tchadensis

    • Sahelanthropus tchadensis is believed to be the oldest member of the human family tree.
    • It lived about 7-6 million years ago somewhere around present-day Chad in Africa.
    • It had both ape-like and human-like features and was bipedalled, an ability that may have increased its chances of survival.

    (2) Homo erectus

    • Homo erectus lived about 1.89 million-110,000 years ago, in Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa and Western and East Asia.
    • ‘Turkana Boy’ is the most complete fossil belonging to this species and is dated to be around 1.6 million years old.

    (3) Modern man

    • Homo neanderthalensis lived about 400,000-40,000 years ago and co-existed with Homo sapiens for a few thousand years.
    • They lived in Europe and in southwestern and central Asia.
    • Homo sapiens evolved about 300,000 years ago, and are found worldwide.

  • Species in news: Euphlyctis Kerala

    A new species of skittering frog has been identified from the surroundings of the Thattekkad bird sanctuary.

    Euphlyctis Kerala

    • The new species is named Euphlyctis Kerala in honor of the remarkable biodiversity of the State, which is also known for many endemic species of frogs.
    • The new species is known to be found in the freshwater bodies of the foothills of the Western Ghats, south of the Palakkad Gap.
    • Although multiple skittering frogs have been described from India for almost two centuries (since 1799), the taxonomic mess within this group created a lot of confusion due to “morphological character crypticity”.
    • Members of the genus Euphlyctis (skittering frogs) have their distribution range from Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand.
    • As of now, Kerala is known to have 180 species of frogs and there could be many more new species awaiting formal descriptions.
  • Don’t Pay, Just Study | Complete Physical Geography With Radhika Mam’ | Habitat free sessions, starting today

    Don’t Pay, Just Study | Complete Physical Geography With Radhika Mam’ | Habitat free sessions, starting today

    Radhika Mam’ is launching a new course to complete the entire Physical Geography through MCQs. It starts today at 7.30 p.m.

    Physical Geography Habitat sessions by Radhika – Join here for free

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    Benefits for students:

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