Current Affairs for Govt Exams

In the 19th century, women were generally accorded a low status, with no identity of their own. They were further suppressed by practices such as purdah, early marriage, ban on widow remarriage, sati, polygamy etc. and discriminated against in education, inheritance etc. Seeing women's poor plight, some social reformers took it upon themselves to improve the status of women.   Role Played By Reformers For The Emancipation Of Women   ● Raja Ram Mohan Roy- He was the first person to take an initiative to challenge the practice of Sati. He also made efforts to advocate widow re-marriage, attacked polygamy and the degraded status of widows.   ● Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar- The first Hindu Widow Remarriage Act was introduced in 1856 owing to his relentless efforts. He also protested against child-marriage, campaigned against polygamy, and championed female education.   ● Swami Vivekananda- He laid stress on the removal of religious superstitions, obscurantism, and outdated social customs....

Food processing industry (FPI) is one area which has the potential to add value to farm output, create alternate employment opportunities, improve exports and strengthen the domestic supply chain. Recognising the immense potential of FPI in promoting inclusive growth, it has been identified as one of the sunrise sector. This sector serves as a vital link between the agriculture and the industrial segments of the economy. The economic potential of the FPI are as follows:   ● Growth   ● The Indian FPI accounts for 32 per cent of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.   ● During the last six years ending 2017-18, Food Processing Industries sector has been growing at an average annual growth rate of around 5.06 per cent.   ● In 2017-18, the food processing industry accounted for 7.9 per cent of manufacturing GVA and 9.5 per cent in agricultural value added.   ● The val...

Food processing industry (FPI) is one area which has the potential to add value to farm output, create alternate employment opportunities, improve exports and strengthen the domestic supply chain. Recognising the immense potential of FPI in promoting inclusive growth, it has been identified as one of the sunrise sector. This sector serves as a vital link between the agriculture and the industrial segments of the economy. The economic potential of the FPI are as follows:   ● Growth   ● The Indian FPI accounts for 32 per cent of the country’s total food market, one of the largest industries in India and is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth.   ● During the last six years ending 2017-18, Food Processing Industries sector has been growing at an average annual growth rate of around 5.06 per cent.   ● In 2017-18, the food processing industry accounted for 7.9 per cent of manufacturing GVA and 9.5 per cent in agricultural value added.   ● The val...

The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, provides a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards. The four most important provisions of India’s RTE law are: (i) government schools must be completely free for all children aged 6–14, (ii) no student can be expelled or held back before the completion of primary school (grade 8), (iii) 25% of private school seats must be held for disadvantaged students in the local area, and (iv) infrastructure and minimum quality standards (such as the provision of libraries and girls’ toilets), minimum teacher qualifications, and pupil-teacher ratios must be implemented. The Act is a remarkable step forward in the field of education in India. However, some of the provisions of the Act, although included with noble intentions, have produced unintended consequences which is dis...

To better represent emerging-market and developing countries in global financial architecture, the BRICS nations decided to set up a development bank of their own. In 2015, the BRICS nations established the New Development Bank (NDB) with a capital of $50 billion to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies, as well as in developing countries. How NDB Is Changing the Paradigm of Development Financing   ● Alternative Financial Architecture: The bank augments the international financial architecture that is dominated by 20th century institutions of World Bank and IMF. Thus, it reduces the dependence on World Bank group and dilutes their hegemony in the financial system. The BRICS nations are also considering a credit rating agency of their own to counter the dominance of USA in this area.   ● No Harsh Conditions Imposed: There is a growing concern among developing countries in South America, Africa and Asia t...

The Mauryan kings were great patrons of art due to which this period saw remarkable progress made in the art and architecture. The influence of Buddhism and Jainism can be easily seen in the art and architecture of the Mauryan period. On the other hand, the individual initiatives also contributed to the development of art and architecture in this period. Thus, we can see that Mauryan art was the summation of court art and popular art.  Contributions During Mauryan Period    ● Court Art:   ● Palaces: Some of the magnificent structures of Mauryan times are the palaces. The palace of Chandragupta Maurya was inspired from the Achaemenid palaces. The three-storied palace of Ashoka at Kumhrar is another magnificent example. Mauryans used wood as principle building material due to which the remains of these building are in deteriorating condition.   ● Pillars: Mauryans introduced stone masonry to a large scale, the engineering in the erection of monolithic stone pillars is remarkable...

Ocean currents are horizontal flow of a mass of waters in a fairly defined direction over great distances. They are like stream of water (like rivers) flowing through the main body of the ocean in a regular pattern. Ocean currents (Avg speed 3.2 km to 10 kmph) with higher speed are called streams and currents with lower speed are called drifts. Ocean currents are categorized as warm or cold on the basis of relative temperature w.r.t the surrounding water:   ● Warm currents generally flow from equatorial regions towards poles. Eg. Kuroshio current, Gulf stream   ● Cold currents generally flow from polar regions towards equator. Eg. Oyashio Current, Labrador current. The circulation of the ocean currents depends on the following factors:   ● Planetary Winds: A major role in ocean currents is played by frictional drag of surface water by planetary winds. Most of the currents of the world tends to follow the direction of planetary winds. For example, within the tropics, the tra...

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. All members of the United Nations agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. It has 15 Members (5 permanent - US, China, Russia, France and UK; and 10 non-permanent members). Significance of UN Security Council   ● Peace Through Peaceful Means: The security council is tasked to maintain international peace and security in accordance with the principles of United Nations. The Council aims to peacefully resolve international disputes under Chapter VI of the UN Charter, which authorizes the council to call on parties to seek solutions via negotiation, arbitration, or other peaceful means. It determines the existence of a threat to the peace or act of aggression and to recommend what action should be taken.   ● Assertive Actions: Failing peaceful means, Chapter VII empowers t...

The Sunderbans is a cluster of low-lying islands in Bay of Bengal, spread across India and Bangladesh. It is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world with great biodiversity of both flora and fauna. Reasons for Its Depletion Increasing anthropogenic activities along with natural stresses have led to massive degradation of one of India’s World Heritage Site — the Sunderbans. Some anthropogenic causes for its depletion are:   ● Over exploitation of forest to meet the growing requirement and illegal removal of Sundri trees for timber and pulp.   ● Commercialisation of Golpata tree in order to produce oil and alcohol for human consumption.   ● The rapidly expanding shrimp farming industry is deteriorating the mangrove forests in the Sunderbans.   ● Mining and Industrial development, agriculture, and aquaculture has led to huge amount of garbage, waste water, pollutants and other effluents discharged into the wetland making it vulnerable.   ● Oil pollution d...

India is characterized by great diversity of religious beliefs and practices. India is renowned for its practice of religious tolerance for thousands of years. Even in modern India, Constitution ensures that India is a secular state and all citizens and religions enjoy the fundamental right to freedom of religion under Articles 15, 25 and 26. However, the idea of secularism has to understood at the following three levels:   Individual level: Every citizen of India has a right to follow his religious beliefs and practice and promote it peacefully. But simultaneously, secularism demands that the individual must be tolerant of others' beliefs and practices and should not practice any religious discrimination.   Society level: Secularism at society level can be understood by Indian philosophy of ‘Sarva Dharma Sambhav’ (all Dharmas are equal to or harmonious with each other). Peaceful coexistence in Indian societies is only possible when...