Questions
Sea Guardian often seen in the news is related to which of the following?
a) Nuclear-powered submarine
b) An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
c) Advanced Research Vessel
d) Stealth guided missile destroyer
2)Consider the following statements regarding Agni Prime missile
1. It is a canisterised missile with range capability between 1,000 and 2,000 km.
2. The Agni-P will replace the Prithvi, Agni-1 and Agni-2 missiles
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
3)Project Devil as seen in news is related to which of the following?
a) Integrated Guided Missiles Development Programme
b) Surveillance and intelligence monitoring by RAW
c) Development of stealth frigates for Indian Navy
d) Indigenous manufacturing of armored vehicles
4)Consider the following statements regarding Lightning
1. Increasing global temperature will increase the frequency of lightning
2. Intercloud or intracloud (IC) lightning is more dangerous than the Cloud to ground (CG)
lightning
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
5)Bryum Bharatiensis was sometimes seen in the news. Which of the following correctly
explains it?
a) It is a new snake species discovered in Western Ghars.
b) It is a salt-secreting salt-tolerant mangrove species found in mangrove formations in India.
c) It is a cold-blooded marine reptilian species
d) It is a new plant species of moss discovered by Indian scientists in Antarctica
6)Consider the following statements regarding International Cooperation and Convention
Centre – Rudraksh
1. The objective is to dedicate an ideal platform for social and cultural interactions between
people
2. The centre has been built with the assistance from Japan International Cooperation
Agency.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
Prelims Specific NEws Items
Jharkhand clears Bill for 75% Quota for locals in private jobs
The Jharkhand Assembly has passed a Bill, which provides 75% reservation for local people in the private sector up to ₹40,000 salary a month.
Try answering this PYQ first:
Q.One of the implications of equality in society is the absence of- (CSP 2018)
(a) Privileges
(b) Restraints
(c) Competition
(d) Ideology
What is the move?
Every employer shall register such employees receiving gross monthly salary as wages not more than ₹ 40,000 as the limit notified by the government from time to time on the designated portal within three months of the Act coming into force.
Every employer shall fill up 75% of the total existing vacancies on the date of notification of this Act and subsequent thereto by local candidates with respect to such posts where the gross monthly salary or wages are not more than ₹40,000”.
The Bill provides for the local MLA to supervise the employment procedure and issue directions to the employer concerned as it may deem fit.
Other such states
Once notified, Jharkhand will become the third State in the country, after Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, to pass such law.
In 2019, Andhra Pradesh passed such law, while in June last, Haryana passed law, reserving 75% quota for the local people in private jobs with monthly salary less than ₹50,000.
What is Quota for Locals?
Ans. Constitutional provision for Equal Treatment
Article 16 of the Constitution guarantees equal treatment under the law in matters of public employment. It prohibits the state from discriminating on grounds of place of birth or residence.
Article 16(2) states that “no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State”.
The provision is supplemented by the other clauses in the Constitution that guarantee equality.
However, Article 16(3) of the Constitution provides an exception by saying that Parliament may make a law “prescribing” a requirement of residence for jobs in a particular state.
This power vests solely in the Parliament, not state legislatures.
Why does the Constitution prohibit reservation based on domicile?
When the Constitution came into force, India turned itself into one nation from a geographical unit of individual principalities and the idea of the universality of Indian citizenship took root.
India has single citizenship, and it gives citizens the liberty to move around freely in any part of the country.
Hence the requirement of a place of birth or residence cannot be qualifications for granting public employment in any state.
But are reservations not granted on other grounds such as caste?
Equality enshrined in the Constitution is not mathematical equality and does not mean all citizens will be treated alike without any distinction.
To this effect, the Constitution underlines two distinct aspects which together form the essence of equality law:
Non-discrimination among equals, and
Affirmative action to equalize the unequal
Supreme Court rulings on quota for locals
The Supreme Court has ruled against reservation based on place of birth or residence.
In 1984, ruling in Dr Pradeep Jain v Union of India, the issue of legislation for “sons of the soil” was discussed.
The court expressed an opinion that such policies would be unconstitutional but did not expressly rule on it as the case was on different aspects of the right to equality.
In a subsequent ruling in Sunanda Reddy v State of Andhra Pradesh (1995), the Supreme Court affirmed the observation in 1984 ruling to strike down a state government policy that gave 5% extra weightage to candidates.
In 2002, the Supreme Court invalidated appointment of government teachers in Rajasthan in which the state selection board gave preference to “applicants belonging to the district or the rural areas of the district concerned”.
In 2019, the Allahabad HC struck down a recruitment notification by the UP PSC which prescribed preference for women who are “original residents” of the UP alone.
2)Qeqertaq Avannarleq Island
A group of researchers who went out to collect samples off the coast of Greenland in July found themselves on a tiny, uninhabited and previously unknown island.
Qeqertaq Avannarleq:
Measuring 60×30 metres and with a peak of three metres above sea level, it has now become the new northernmost piece of land on Earth.
Before this, Oodaaq was marked as the Earth’s northernmost terrain.
The new island is made up of seabed mud and moraine, i.e. soil, rock and other material left behind by moving glaciers, and has no vegetation.
The group has suggested the discovery be named ‘Qeqertaq Avannarleq’, which is Greenlandic for “the northernmost island”.
How this island came to existence?
Ans. Undoubtedly, climate change in Greenland
Global warming has had a severe effect on the ice sheet of Greenland.
The new island, which was exposed by shifting pack ice, is, however, not a direct consequence of climate change.
3)ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY AND INDIAN NAVY COMMENCE BILATERAL EXERCISE – ‘AUSINDEX’
Source: This post is based on the article “ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY AND INDIAN NAVY COMMENCE BILATERAL EXERCISE – ‘AUSINDEX” published in Indian Express on 6th September 2021.
What is the News?
The Navies from Australia and India have commenced the bilateral maritime exercise named Exercise AUSINDEX 2021.
About Exercise AUSINDEX
AUSINDEX is a bilateral maritime exercise between India and Australian Navies. It was started in the year 2015. This is the fourth edition of the exercise.
4) Cryptocurrency and Blockchain :-
What Is Cryptocurrency?
A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.
Blockchain is a system of recording information in a way that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system.
A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction occurs on the blockchain, a record of that transaction is added to every participant’s ledger. The decentralised database managed by multiple participants is known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
Blockchain is a type of DLT in which transactions are recorded with an immutable cryptographic signature called a hash.
This means if one block in one chain was changed, it would be immediately apparent it had been tampered with. If hackers wanted to corrupt a blockchain system, they would have to change every block in the chain, across all of the distributed versions of the chain.
Blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are constantly and continually growing as blocks are being added to the chain, which significantly adds to the security of the ledger.
5) C-295 induction critical for IAF :- The procurement of 56 C-295MW transport aircraft from Airbus Defence and Space S.A., Spain approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security on Wednesday marks the culmination of a decade-long process by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to replace the ageing Avro aircraft in service, pending signing of the formal contract.
Cabinet Committee on Security is headed by Prime Minister.
This is the first project of its kind in which a military aircraft will be manufactured in India under technology transfer by a private company and is expected to cost close to $3bn. The IAF has 56 Avro transport aircraft procured in the 1960s and in urgent need of replacement.
Specifications of C-295 :- The C-295MW is a transport aircraft of 5-10 tonne capacity and has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and para dropping of troops and cargo. It is powered by Pratt & Whitney PW127 engines, part of the PW100 family. All 56 aircraft will be installed with indigenous Electronic Warfare Suite.
6) Botanical Survey of India’s collection of rare paintings, dyes, fabrics and type specimens to go public :-
In the 1840s, when British botanist William Griffith came across the rare holoparasitic flowering plant Sapria himalayana in Arunachal Pradesh. That time since it was not easy to document the things and thus Paintings were created. In this case the painting was created n 1842 by Luchman Das.
Scottish botanist and physician, William Roxburgh (1751-1815), is also known as the father of the Indian botany for his contribution to plant taxonomy in India.
All about 9 Vulture Species in India
7) Explained: Who will benefit from the Rs 10,683 crore textiles PLI scheme?
Which segments will the new PLI scheme promote?
The PLI scheme for textiles aims to promote the production of high value Man-Made Fibre (MMF) fabrics, garments and technical textiles. “Two-thirds of international trade in textiles is of man-made and technical textiles. This scheme has been approved so India can also contribute to the ecosystem of fabrics and garments made of MMF,”
Which producers will benefit from the PLI scheme?
The scheme is set to provide incentives to eligible producers in two phases.
Any person or company willing to invest a minimum of Rs 300 crore in plant, machinery, equipment and civil works (excluding land and administrative building cost) to produce products of MMF fabrics, garments and products of technical textiles will be eligible to participate in the first part of the scheme.
Investors willing to spend a minimum of Rs 100 crore under the same conditions shall be eligible to apply in the second part of the scheme.
8) Account Aggregators: New framework to access, share financial data
On September 2 eight of India’s major banks — State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Federal Bank — joined the Account Aggregator (AA) network that will enable customers to easily access and share their financial data.
What is an Account Aggregator?
According to the Reserve Bank of India, an Account Aggregator is a non-banking financial company engaged in the business of providing, under a contract, the service of retrieving or collecting financial information pertaining to its customer.
It is also engaged in consolidating, organising and presenting such information to the customer or any other financial information user as may be specified by the bank.
The AA framework was created through an inter-regulatory decision by RBI and other regulators including Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) through and initiative of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC). The licence for AAs is issued by the RBI, and the financial sector will have many AAs.
The AA framework allows customers to avail various financial services from a host of providers on a single portal based on a consent method, under which the consumers can choose what financial data to share and with which entity.
How will an account aggregator work?
The framework will allow financial data to be exchanged between the holders of data and its users. The RBI has allowed a number of companies like PhonePe to act as account aggregators to facilitate this process. Account aggregators will act as intermediaries who will collect data from one financial entity and exchange it with another.
For example, a bank which is processing a loan application from a potential borrower may want to access a variety of financial data about the borrower. The lending bank can access details of the borrower’s savings, past loan repayment record, mutual fund holdings and insurance holdings through an account aggregator. The borrower, however, will have to grant consent for the sharing of his data with the lending bank.
