BULLETS OF THE DAY FOR CRACKING IAS 2O20 THE HINDU(#DAY 110)

BULLETS OF THE DAY FOR CRACKING IAS 2O20 THE HINDU(#DAY 110)

1) Women Army officers eligible for permanent commission: SC

This article is all about recent verdict of s.c regarding women into permanent commission of army.

Chandrachud dismisses govt.’s view that women are physiologically weaker.

Women officers of the Indian Army have brought laurels to the force. Their track record of service to the nation is beyond reproach. To cast aspersion on their abilities on the ground of gender is an affront not only to their dignity as women but to the dignity of the members of the Indian Army — men and women — who serve as equal citizens in a common mission.

The verdict came on a nearly 10-year-old appeal filed by the government against a March 12, 2010 decision of the Delhi High Court to grant SSC women officers permanent commission.

The court found the remarks in the note not only constitutionally invalid but also discriminatory, affecting the dignity of women officers.

2) Nirbhaya case: fresh death warrants issued for March 3

This article is all about the final death dates fixed by s.c for nirbhaya case accused.

A Delhi court on Monday issued fresh death warrants for March 3 at 6 a.m. against all the four convicts in the December 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

This is the third time the court is issuing death warrants against Mukesh Kumar Singh, 32, Pawan Gupta, 25, Vinay Kumar Sharma, 26, and Akshay Kumar, 31.

The trial court had issued the first death warrants for January 22, which were later postponed to February 1.

All convicts are “to be hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 3, at 6 a.m.,” court said.

3) India’s bird population suffers long-term decline

This article is all about the decline of bird population from long time.

Joint study by 10 bodies blames growing threat from loss of habitat, widespread presence of toxins, hunting and trapping.

The State of India’s Birds 2020 (SoIB) assessment raises the alarm that several spectacular birds, many of them endemic to the sub-continent, face a growing threat from loss of habitat due to human activity.

Over a fifth of India’s bird diversity, ranging from the Short-toed Snake Eagle to the Sirkeer Malkoha, has suffered strong long-term declines over a 25-year period, while more recent annual trends point to a drastic 80% loss among several common birds.

For every bird species that was found to be increasing in numbers over the long term, 11 have suffered losses, some catastrophically.

The SoIB was produced using a base of 867 species, and analysed with the help of data uploaded by birdwatchers to the online platform, eBird. 

4) Govt. plans research on ‘indigenous’ cows

This article is in the context of research on indigenous cows taken by GoI.

To be funded by multiple scientific ministries, the initiative, SUTRA PIC, is led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

SUTRA PIC or Scientific Utilisation Through Research Augmentation-Prime Products from Indigenous Cows, has five themes: Uniqueness of Indigenous Cows, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Medicine and Health, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Agricultural Applications, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Food and Nutrition, Prime-products from indigenous cows-based utility items.

Researchers from academic organisations as well as “capable voluntary organisations (NGOs) active in India with proven record of accomplishment in executing S&T-based R&D projects,” were invited to apply for funding.

5) A royal mess

This article is all about the recent supreme court order of telecom players to pay AGR to the GoI.

The telecom industry is in turmoil unable to pay up its dues as per the Supreme Court verdict on adjusted gross revenues delivered in October last.

Faced with the wrath of the Court, Bharti Airtel paid ₹10,000 crore on Monday with the promise of paying the rest before mid-March when the court will hear the case next.

Vodafone Idea, the one hit the most by the judgment, on Monday sought more time to pay up but the Court was in no mood to humour the company and refused to hear the plea. 

At the very least, they ought to have provided for the liability in their balance sheets as a contingency, which they failed to do.

Telecom equipment suppliers may also go down as their dues will not be paid. And what happens to the 212 million Vodafone subscribers? It is doubtful whether the other two players can absorb them all. 

Worse, the cascading effect will be felt across the economy as lenders face the consequences of the company going bankrupt — non performing assets will rise.

The industry is critical to the government’s plans for a digital economy not to mention its revenues, including from the upcoming 5G spectrum auctions. The government has to, therefore, examine what it can do to save the situation without disrespecting the Court’s verdict. 

6) FATF to review Pakistan status today

This article is in the context of Pakistan's status by the FATF today.

Financial action task force is the anti-money laundering body at the global level.

Officials and diplomats say task force may retain grey list status.

India plans to raise the repeated “politicisation” of the process by Pakistan, which is aiming to avoid being “blacklisted” by the group for its actions on countering terrorism.

Officials from the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the 39-member Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meet in Paris.

Indian officials are expected to point to statements by the leaders of Turkey and Malaysia, who have gone public on their plans to back Pakistan, instead of going by the regulations of the FATF that evaluates countries on the basis of technical parameters and maintains confidential proceedings. 

At the last meeting of the Asia Pacific Group in Beijing last November, Pakistan had been judged as having cleared 14 of the 27-point action plan checklist it was given by the group on countering terror financing and black money laundering.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS:

I) With reference to Head on Generation (HOG) technology used in trains, consider the following statements

1) The system runs the train’s ‘hotel load’ (the load of air conditioning, lights, fans, and pantry, etc.) electricity from two large diesel generator sets.

2) HOG system is free of air and noise pollution.

Which among the above statements is/are correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both 1 and 2

D) Neither 1 nor 2

II) With reference to Hera mission, recently seen in the news, consider the following statements

1) It is an initiative of the European Space Agency.

2) It aims to explore an asteroid namely Didymos.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both 1 and 2

D) Neither 1 nor 2

TODAY'S MAINS QUESTION:

15) RECENT LIVING PLANET SURVEY REPORT MENTIONED THERE IS A DECREASAL IN  FLORA AND FAUNA SPECIES WORLDWIDE. EXPLAIN THE REASONS AND WHAT MEASURES NEED TO BE TAKEN TO CONTROL THAT.

* THANK YOU AND ALL THE BEST...