67th BPSC Prelims: One-liners Current Affairs (National News)

National News (67th BPSC)

• Recently, a one-day National Conference was organized to commemorate the 25th year of enactment of PESA, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• Recently, in a workshop organised by Ministry of Panchayat Raj, Mysuru Declaration on Service Delivery by Panchayats was signed.
  • Mysuru Declaration was signed by participants from 16 States and resolved to roll out the Common Minimum Service delivery by Panchayats across the country from April 1, 2022.
  • The declaration recognises Citizen Centric Services that could be provided by the Panchayats as the Heart of Governance.
  • It aims to foster institution-building at the grassroots level that empowers and delivers services for citizens thereby improving quality of life specifically for the vulnerable and marginalized sections of society.
• At Sydney dialogue, prime minister said that digital age is raising new questions on sovereignty, governance, ethics, law, rights, and security.
• President promulgated two ordinances that would allow Centre to extend the tenures of the directors of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED from two years to up to five years.
  • Government amended the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (For CBI Director) and Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 (For ED director).
• Andhra Pradesh assembly passes bill to repeal act intending 3 capitals for the state.
  • The AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Repeal Bill, 2021, repeals the 2020 Act that paved the way for the ‘three capitals’ plan for the state.
• Fifteenth Finance Commission chairman NK Singh has called for a thorough review of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution in the wake of current challenges of climate change and the pandemic.
• Last year, the Government of India notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.
  • Rules 2021 has been framed by the Central Government in exercise of powers under section 87 (2) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and in supersession of the earlier Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011.
• Supreme Court rejected a plea urging it to re-examine the constitutional validity of Section 124A of IPC, which deals with sedition.
• NITI Aayog has planned to launch a new first-of-its-kind Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) handbook in India.
  • ODR is the resolution of disputes outside courts, particularly of small and mediumvalue cases, using digital technology and techniques of alternate dispute resolution (ADR), such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
• Recently, Centre promulgated the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalization and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 which abolished several appellate tribunals and authorities and transferred their jurisdiction to other existing judicial bodies.
  • The Ordinance has amended the Finance Act 2017 to include provisions related to the composition of search-cum-selection committees, and term of office of members in the Act itself.
  • This Ordinance has currently been challenged in the Supreme Court.
• The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) has been suspended for two years to boost funding against COVID-19.
• Last year, some developmental changes were opposed in the islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman& Nicobar.
  • Lakshadweep administration introduced some legislations. There has been considerable opposition to these legislations.
    • The Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation, 2021: It prohibits slaughtering or causing any animal to be slaughtered without a certificate issued by the authorities.
    • The Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 2021: It proposed a new panchayat regulation that makes any person with more than two children ineligible to contest panchayat elections or continue as a member.
    • The Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation 2021: It allows the government to evict, alter and/or occupy any land owned by any common man in the island for development purposes.
    • The Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation: It provides for the administrator to order the detention of a person for a period of up to one year if the offender’s actions adversely affect the maintenance of public order.
  • India’s turtle researchers have been opposing NITI Aayog’s development plans for Little Andaman and Great Nicobar Islands.
• Chief Justice of India delivered a lecture on Rule of Law and he advocated that, “the story of ‘Rule of Law’ is nothing but the story of civilization of humans.”
• Recently, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) in collaboration with National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) has released a Model Panchayat Citizens Charter framework.
• China has completed construction of a strategically significant highway in Tibet, enabling greater access to remote areas along the disputed border with Arunachal Pradesh in India.
• Union Cabinet has approved an extension by six months of the term of Justice Rohini Commission examining the possibility of sub-categorisation within the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Central list.
• The Ministry of Jal Shakti has notified the jurisdiction of Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) and Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act (APRA) of 2014.
  • The APRA 2014 contains provisions for constitution of an Apex Council by Central Government for the supervision of the functioning of the GRMB and KRMB.
  • GRMB and KRMB are autonomous bodies set up after the bifurcation of the state for administration, regulation, maintenance and operation of projects in Godavari and Krishna rivers basins to ensure judicious water use in Andhra Pradesh (A.P) and Telangana respectively.
• A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court annulled part of the 97th Amendment Act and Part IX B of the Constitution which governs the “Cooperative Societies” in the country.
  • ‘Cooperatives’ is a ‘State’ subject. However, the 97th Amendment Act was passed by the Parliament without getting them ratified by State legislatures as required by the Constitution.
  • The Court declared that Part IXB of the Constitution is operative only insofar as it concerns Multi-State cooperative societies both within the various States and in the Union Territories.
  • The SC has held that co-operative societies come under the “exclusive legislative power” of State legislatures.
• The Information and Broadcasting Ministry released the draft Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to seek public opinion on the amendments to Cinematograph Act, 1952.
• Union government launched People’s Plan Campaign 2021– Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas and Vibrant Gram Sabha Dashboard.
  • The People’s Plan Campaign (PPC) is an effective strategy for ensuring the preparation of GPDP in a campaign mode. During the campaign, structured Gram Sabha meetings will be held for preparing Panchayat Development Plans for the next financial year 2022–2023.
• At 24th national conference on e-governance 2021, the ‘Hyderabad Declaration’ on e-Governance was adopted.
  • The declaration aims to bring citizens and governments closer through digital platforms and transform citizen services through the use of technology.
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launches the ODW to encourage adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s urban ecosystem.
  • Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone.
• Revised Rural Area Development Plan Formulation And Implementation (RADPFI) guidelines released Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
  • RADPFI guidelines aim is to have planned spatial development for overall integrated development of villages.
• Centre has proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules 1954 in order to exercise greater control in central deputation of IAS officials.
  • At present, a cadre officer may, with the concurrence of the State Governments concerned and the Central Government, be deputed for service under Central Government or another State Government etc.
  • As per the proposed amendment, each State Government shall make available for deputation, such number of eligible officers of various levels, adjusted proportionately by the number of officers available with State Government vis-à-vis total authorized strength of State cadre at a given point of time.
  • In case State does not give effect to Central government’s decision within specified time, “officer shall stand relieved from cadre from date as may be specified by Central government.”
  • States are opposing these proposed changes in the rule.
• Cabinet approves extension of tenure of the national commission for safaikaramcharis (ncsk) for three years beyond 2022
• Recently supreme court held that the Government aid to an institution is a matter of policy and it is not a fundamental right: If the government made a policy call to withdraw aid, an institution cannot question the decision as a “matter of right”.
• Meghalaya is the first state to implement India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA) as MeghEA. MeghEA aims to transform traditional service delivery process into a digital service system.
• Many cadres of the Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) along with Commander-in-Chief Mushra. laid down arms in Assam’s Dima Hasao district to join the mainstream. DNLA was an insurgent group operating in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong districts, was formed in 2019. It was committed to revamp the national struggle and fight for the liberation of a sovereign, independent Dimasa Nation.
• Greater Tipraland: Several tribal outfits in Tripura have joined hands to push their demand for a separate state for indigenous communities in the region under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has withdrawn approval for Amazon’s investment in Future Coupons Private Ltd. that was granted in 2019. The unprecedented move by the regulator could deal a blow to Amazon’s attempts to thwart a takeover of the Future Group’s retail assets by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
• The Supreme Court has allowed Maharashtra to hold bullock cart races, a 400-year-old tradition.
• Kashmir Tigers blamed for J&K police attack. The name of Kashmir Tigers first surfaced in January this year, with police calling it a shadow group of the Jaish-e-Mohammad.
• Maharashtra’s Shakti Act approved death penalty for rape: With the passage of the Bill, it became the second state in India after Andhra Pradesh to approve death penalty for heinous offences of rape and gangrape.
• The Haryana government has amended its Excise Act, reducing the legal age to purchase, sell or consume liquor from 25 years to 21 years.
• Belagavi border dispute between Maharashtra and Karnataka: It is an inter-state dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra dating back to the period of Independence and the reorganisation of states on linguistic lines in 1956.
• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 27 projects built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which included 24 bridges and three roads, most of which are in the border areas.
  • The 52-km road ‘black-top’ tarmac road from Chisumle to Demchok. It passes through a pass known as Umling La, which is at a height of over 19,000 feet.
  • The height of the pass makes it the highest motorable road in the world, and was recently recognised as such by Guinness World Records.
• The Supreme Court has observed that the suspension of 12 BJP MLAs from the Maharashtra Assembly for a full year is prima facie unconstitutional, and “worse than expulsion”.
  • 12 Maharashtra BJP MLAs have gone to Supreme Court against their year-long suspension from the Assembly. While hearing the challenge, the court has flagged the statutory requirement to not keep a seat vacant for more than 6 months.
• The ‘Mekedatu march’ had been launched for implementation of a project to build a reservoir on the Cauvery at Mekedatu near the Tamil Nadu border. The proposed reservoir, which aims to supply drinking water to Bengaluru and surrounding regions, has been challenged in the Supreme Court by Tamil Nadu on the ground that it would eat into the state’s share of Cauvery water as adjudicated by the court in 2018.
• Delhi Assembly has passed an amendment Bill, recognising Takht Damdama Sahib as the fifth Takht of Sikhs.
• CPI (Maoist) zonal commander Maharaj Pramanik, who carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police.
• As part of the Central Vista redevelopment project, the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame has been merged with the one at National War Memorial.
  • The government has put out the eternal flame of the Amar Jawan Jyoti underneath India Gate and merged it with the one instituted at the National War Memorial in 2019 a few hundred meters away.
• Recently, a grand statue of Subhas Chandra Bose was installed under the grand canopy at India Gate, near which the Amar Jawan Jyoti flickered for 50 years.
• Gujarat HC’s ‘Justice Clock’ will exhibit vital statistics of the justice delivery system in Gujarat, to ‘maximise outreach and visibility’.
• A controversy recently broke out after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) recommended that the Delhi government suspend its flagship ‘Desh ke Mentor’ programme till “the time when all the loopholes pertaining to the safety of the children are overhauled”.
  • The programme was launched in October 2021 and is aimed at connecting students in classes IX to XII with voluntary mentors. People between the ages of 18 and 35 can sign up to be mentors through an app created by a team at the Delhi Technological University and will be connected with students based on mutual interests. The mentorship entails regular phone calls for a minimum of two months, which can optionally be carried on for another four months.
• The Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) informed Media One, a Malayalam-language news channel, through an order that its broadcast licence had been cancelled, citing a Home Ministry order that had denied security clearance to the channel.
• The Centre has banned the import of drones with some exceptions. The move is aimed at giving a boost to domestic manufacturing of drones which is seen as a sector that is set to witness rapid growth this decade.
• The row between Centre and Telangana govt over renewable energy procurement:
  • Telangana is vocal against the “increasing burden” forced upon states by the Centre on account of the clean energy cess imposed on coal and the RPOs (Renewable Purchase Obligation).
• Centre notified the green hydrogen and green ammonia policy aimed at boosting the domestic production of green hydrogen to 5 million tonnes by 2030 and making India an export hub for the clean fuel.
  • The Centre’s new policy offers 25 years of free power transmission for any new renewable energy plants set up to supply power for green hydrogen production before July 2025.
• In Assam, President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the year-long celebration of the 400th birth anniversary of Lachit Borphukan, commander of the Ahom forces and an icon of Assamese nationalism. Under Lachit Borphukan, Ahoms has decisively defeated Mughals at the battle of Saraighat in 1671.
• The Supreme Court has upheld the govt scheme for one rank, one pension (OROP).
• The Centre has opened up Covid-19 vaccination for children between the ages of 12 and 14, allowing them to receive Corbevax, a vaccine against Covid-19 that is manufactured by Hyderabad-based Biological-E. Corbevax is India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein sub-unit vaccine.
• The Par Tapi Narmada river link project: The project proposes to transfer river water from the surplus regions of the Western Ghats to the deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch. It proposes to link three rivers — Par, originating from Nashik in Maharashtra and flowing through Valsad, Tapi from Saputara that flows through Maharashtra and Surat in Gujarat, and Narmada originating in Madhya Pradesh and flowing through Maharashtra and Bharuch and Narmada districts in Gujarat.
  • The tribals in Gujarat protesting against this project as may lose their lands or houses or both in the submergence when the reservoirs are created.
• India has achieved the target of $400 billion in exports in FY2022. The achievement of $400 billion in merchandise exports represents a growth of over 21 per cent in exports compared to the previous record high of $330 billion achieved in FY2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• RBI notified the market making scheme to promote retail participation in government securities by providing prices/quotes to retail direct gilt (RDG) account holders enabling them to buy and sell securities under the Retail Direct Scheme.
• Recently, several telecom companies opted for government offer to convert interest on deferred spectrum auction payments and adjusted gross revenues (AGR) into equity.
  • Indian Telecom Sector is the 2nd largest telecom sector of the world with- tele-density of 86.89% or 118.9 crore telephone connections (September 2021) including 116.59 crore mobile connections.
• Smart cities and academia towards action & research (saar) program.
  • SAAR program has been launched under the Smart Cities mission.
  • smart cities and academia towards action & research (saar) program. SAAR program has been launched under the Smart Cities mission.
  • It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), National Institute of Urban Affairs(NIUA) and leading Indian academic institutions of the country.
• Chips To Startup (C2s) Programme aims to train 85 thousand high-quality and qualified engineers in the area of Very large-scale integration and Embedded System Design.
  • Under C2S, project would be initiated in certain key areas including Energy & Environment, Healthcare, Agriculture, Disaster management etc.
• NASSCOM report on startups: According to the report, more than 2,250 startups in India were added in the year 2021, over 600 more than what was added in the previous year.
• SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank continue to remain domestic systemically important banks (D-SIB).
  • D-SIB means that the bank is too big to fail. According to the RBI, some banks become systemically important due to their size, cross-jurisdictional activities, complexity and lack of substitute and interconnection.
  • Banks whose assets exceed 2% of GDP are considered part of this group.
• Airtel Payments Bank has been categorised as a scheduled bank by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  • All banks which are included in the Second Schedule to the RBI Act, 1934 are Scheduled Banks.
• Devas’ arbitration cases:
  • Under a 2005 agreement, Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO had agreed to build, launch and operate two satellites and lease out 90% of satellite transponder capacity to Devas.
  • However, government cancelled the deal in 2011 owing to security concerns.
  • Devas challenged the decision at multiple international arbitration forums including International Chambers of Commerce (ICC), India Germany Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and India Mauritius BIT.
  • India lost all three disputes and has to pay a total of USD 1.2 billion in damages.
  • SC in its recent ruling had upheld National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order of winding up Devas Multimedia Private Limited.
• India on track to surpass china as third largest ethanol consumer by 2026- international energy agency (IEA).
• Ministry of textiles release operational guidelines for PM mega integrated textile region and apparel (PM MITRA) parks scheme
  • PM MITRA aims to develop integrated large scale and modern industrial infrastructure facilities for the entire value-chain of the textile industry.
• KhanijBidesh India Ltd. (KABIL) under ministry of mines engaging with countries for exploring possibilities of mineral asset acquisition abroad.
  • KABIL is a joint venture company set up with the participation of 3 Central Public Sector Enterprises namely, National Aluminium Company Ltd.(NALCO), Hindustan Copper Ltd.(HCL) and Mineral Exploration Company Ltd. (MECL).
  • KABIL is mandated to identify and acquire overseas mineral assets of critical and strategic nature such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, Copper, Neodymium, other rare earths etc.
  • KABIL is already engaging with countries like Australia, Argentina, Bolivia and Chile which are endowed with cited critical and strategic minerals