Oil Bonds: The Centre has argued that it cannot reduce taxes on petrol and diesel as it has to bear the burden of payments in lieu of oil bonds issued by the previous UPA government to subsidise fuel prices. Before fuel prices were deregulated, petrol and diesel as well as cooking gas and kerosene were […]
Category: Current Affairs
Financial Inclusion Index 2021 : RBI
Financial Inclusion Index: The Reserve Bank of India has created a composite Financial Inclusion Index (FI-Index) to capture the extent of financial inclusion across the country. The announcement regarding the creation of the Financial Inclusion Index was made in the first Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2021-2022 on 17 April. The annual FI-Index for the […]
National Gene Bank
National Gene Bank The Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated the world’s second-largest refurbished state-of-the-art National Gene Bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR). Gene Banks are a type of biorepository which preserve genetic material. A collection of seed plants, tissue cultures etc. A gene is the basic physical and […]
75 Hunar Haat
75 “Hunar Haat”: The Union Ministry of Minority Affairs has set a target to provide employment opportunities to 7 lakh 50 thousand artisans, craftsmen through 75 “Hunar Haat”. To be organised across the country, the 75 Haats will be a part of the ‘Amrit Mahotsav’ and will mark 75 years of India’s Independence. Also, 75 […]
TAPAS (Training For Augmenting Productivity And Services)
TAPAS (Training For Augmenting Productivity And Services): The Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment has launched an online portal TAPAS (Training for Augmenting Productivity and Services). The idea of TAPAS was conceptualised at a time when exploring the online medium for work and education had become imperative due to the outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic. […]
Drug Trafficking In India
Drug Trafficking In India: The anti-drug law enforcement agencies are suspecting a steep surge in cross-border trafficking of heroin and crystal methamphetamine with the rapid Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. Drugs have been a major source of revenue for the Taliban. With the collapse of Afghanistan’s economy, the Taliban will rely heavily on drug money to […]
Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021
Tribunal Law Reforms The Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021 was passed in both houses recently. The law has triggered a fresh stand-off between the legislature and the judiciary over the powers of and limitations on law making. As per the Bill, the minimum age criterion is 50 years for appointment of advocates as members of tribunals […]
Uttar Pradesh Two-Child Policy
UP’s Two-Child Policy: After reviewing over 8,000 suggestions from the public, the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission has submitted a report and draft Bill of a new population control law (The Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill, 2021) proposing two-child policy to the State government. Special facilities to all families (irrespective of the […]
Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS)
Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS): In order to boost domestic defence and aerospace manufacturing, Ministry of Defence (MoD) has launched Defence Testing Infrastructure Scheme (DTIS) with an outlay of Rs 400 crore for creating state-of-the-art testing infrastructure in partnership with the private industry. The scheme was launched by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on May […]
Draft Electricity Rules, 2021
Draft Electricity Rules, 2021: The Ministry of Power has circulated the “Draft Electricity (promoting renewable energy through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2021”. These rules are proposed for purchase and consumption of green energy including the energy from Waste-to-Energy plants. The draft rules have the following subheads within which details are provided: Renewable Purchase Obligation […]