In November, 2018, the governments of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal withdrew ‘general consent’ to the CBI to register fresh cases under its purview. One implication of the decision is that the CBI will have to obtain the State’s consent case by case.Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya became the first person to be declared a … Continue reading Prelims Revision

China’s Chang’e-4 mission spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon. Unlike the near side, the far side of the moon is shielded from radio transmissions from earth. The Chang’e-4 mission got around the problem of lack of communication with those on earth by using a relay satellite. Unlike earth, the moon has an abundance … Continue reading Prelims Revision

Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease that can cause debilitating or fatal complications, including encephalitis, severe diarrhoea and dehydration, pneumonia, ear infections and permanent vision loss. The disease is preventable through two doses of vaccine. Congenital Rubella Syndrome, or CRS, is an important cause of severe birth defects. A woman infected with the … Continue reading Prelims Revision

Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India and is famous for the phumdis floating over it. Phumdis are a series of floating islands, exclusive to the Loktak Lake in Manipur state. They cover a substantial part of the lake area and are heterogeneous masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter, in different stages … Continue reading Prelims Revision

The basic idea of the Aadhaar Payment Bridge System (ABPS), an offspring of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is that a person’s Aadhaar number becomes her financial address. Instead of having to provide multiple account details (say, her name, bank account number and IFSC code) to receive a bank transfer, she only has … Continue reading Prelims Revision

Scientists have discovered evidence of abundant water-bearing minerals on the surface of the asteroid Bennu. Data from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that is currently orbiting the asteroid confirm presence of aqueously altered, hydrated minerals on its surface. Work is in progress to make Ganjam the first sparrow-friendly district of Odisha. Indians are not as happy in … Continue reading Prelims Revision

The Union Cabinet recently approved a new hydroelectricity policy that, among other things, included large hydro projects within the ambit of renewable energy. Prior to the policy, only small hydro projects of a capacity of less than 25 MW were treated as renewable energy. Large hydro projects were treated as a separate source of energy. … Continue reading Prelims Revision

Oppari music is a sort of funeral dirge sung in parts of Tamil Nadu that is associated with backward castes; Gaana is a folk music style associated with Dalits from the slums of north Chennai. Thoubal rives flows through Manipur. Mapithel dam has been constructed across the Thoubal river. The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is a report … Continue reading Prelims Revision

Security council resolution 2462 relates to terrorism financing. Resolution 2462 on terrorism financing highlights the obligation states have that prohibit them from making financing available for the benefit of terror organizations “even in the absence of a link to a specific terrorist act.” Aves Island, Smith Island and Long Island are islands of Andaman and … Continue reading Prelims Revision

Sinho Commission – A Commission for Economically Backward Classes, chaired by Major General S.R. Sinho (retired). It submitted its report in the year 2010. The report said that 18.2% of the general category came under the below poverty line (BPL). The discovery of the starry dwarf frog - a nocturnal amphibian that lives under leaf … Continue reading Prelims Revision