Corporatization of Ordnance Factory Board Context: Recently, the Union Cabinet approved a plan to corporatise the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). About: Ordnance Factory Board (OFB): It is an umbrella body for the ordnance factories and related institutions, and is currently a subordinate office of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The...
Deep Ocean Mission Context: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on the Deep Ocean Mission (DOM). The blueprint of the DOM to explore the deep recesses of the ocean was unveiled in 2018. Earlier, MoES...
Children and Digital Dumpsites: Context: The World Health Organization (WHO) in its recent report “Children and Digital Dumpsites” has underlined the risk that children working in informal processing are facing due to discarded electronic devices or e-waste There are as many as 18 million children (as young as five years) and about 12.9 million women work at...
Humayun’s Tomb This tomb, built in 1570, is of particular cultural significance as it was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent. It inspired several major architectural innovations, culminating in the construction of the Taj Mahal. It was built under the patronage of Humayun’s son, the great Emperor...
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 Context: Delivering a judgment defining the contours of the otherwise “vague” Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (UAPA) a division bench of the Delhi High Court has laid down some important principles upon the imposition of Section 15, 17 & 18 of...
Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought Context: Recently, the Prime Minister delivered a keynote address at the United Nations (UN) “High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought” via video conference. He spoke as the President of the 14th Session of the Conference of Parties (CoP) of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The Dialogue will encourage all member states...
Resolution 75/260 of UNGA: HIV/AIDS Context: The Union Health Minister addressed the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on prevention of HIV/AIDS. The Resolution 75/260 of UNGA deals with the Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the political declarations on HIV/AIDS. Key Points...
Official language Context: The Tulu speakers, mainly in Karnataka and Kerala, have been requesting the governments to give it official language status and include it in the eighth schedule to the Constitution. In 2020, there was a demand to include Tulu in the new National Education Policy (NEP). About: Official Language or Languages of a State: Part XVII of the...
National AI Portal Context: The ‘National AI Portal’, celebrated its first anniversary on 28th May, 2021. About: Artificial Intelligence (AI): It describes the action of machines accomplishing tasks that have historically required human intelligence. It includes technologies like machine learning, pattern recognition, big data, neural networks, self algorithms etc. AI involves complex things such as feeding a particular data into...
Rare Earth Metals Context: China’s dominance in the rare earth metals, key to the future of manufacturing, is posing a major concern for the West. About: Rare Earth Elements ⦁ They are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table in addition to scandium and...
