Weekly Current: Agnipath, Kapilavastu Relics, Interstate Council, BMS System, UNSC 1267 Committee, I2U2 diplomacy, Critical IT Infra and more Jun Week2-2022

1. IR/Defense
2. Polity
3. Science and Environment
4. History-Culture:
5. Ethics
6. Page Geography
7. Page PIN/GPSC

IR/Defense

IR/Defense: AGNIPATH (Tour of Duty)- 4 Year recruitment of soldiers, sailors and airmen into the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, on short-term contractual basis. They will be called Agniveers.

• 😍- SCHEME will help cut the rising salary and pension bill of the armed forces while keeping the staff young. 45,000 to 50,000 recruited annually, only 25 per cent will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission.
• 😍 All India All Class (AIAC) recruitment to the services- previously regiment system on region and caste bases. aspirants between the ages of 17.5 years and 23 years will be eligible to apply. Training for six months and will job for three-and-a-half years. Starting salary of Rs 30,000. 30% will be set aside under a “Seva Nidhi programme”, and the government will contribute an equal amount every month with INTEREST → Each soldier will get Rs 11.71 lakh as a lump sum amount INCOME TAX FREE at the end of 4 years. Plus life insurance disability insurance et cetera. –
• 😍 Currently, the number of junior commissioned officers (JCOs) and equivalent ranks is disproportionately higher due to regular promotions. So new system better.
• 😍 National unity, camaraderie and bonding and discipline.
• 😍 With use of cyber-tech and artificial intelligence and smart weapons and contact-less warfare- we require less number of soldiers. So four year contact is enough. America, Israel, France having similar system. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that every ‘Agniveer’ in the state would be absorbed in the police force. – !
• 😍 Education ministry says will launch 3-year skill-based BA programme. – !
• 😍 MoD grants one-time waiver in upper age limit, raising it from 21 to 23 for 2022. –
• 😍 Agniveers to get Skill India certificates while in service, says Govt. !
• 😍 MHA and MoD announce 10% Agniveer job quota in CAPFs, Assam Rifles, Defence ministry and its PSUs. !
• 😍 3-year relaxation in age limit for Agniveers applying to CAPFs and Assam Rifles 5-year relaxation for first batch.
• 😥 Concerns: Ex-Agniveer will the able to find jobs outside military after four years? Very low age limit. No permanent jobs. What if some of these youth engage in criminal activities after job loss? Counter- Even at present many ex servicemen successfully working in the economy without problem. 🤔Points to Reflect: GSM2: 1) issues related to policy design implementation in HASTE. (सेना में चार साल के लिए जवानों की भर्ती के लिए अग्निपथ योजना.

• IR/Defense: Northern Ireland Protocol: After the Brexit/ UK left the European Union: Northern Ireland remained its only constituent that shared a land border with an EU member, the Republic of Ireland. So, customs checking of goods required. This new law seeks to reduce customs checks and paperwork for trade between Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland (which together with Great Britain forms the UK). (यूरोपीय संघ, आयरलैण्ड गणतंत्र, उत्तरी आयरलैंड और यूनाइटेड किंगडम के बीच माल सामान के परिवहन में सीमा शुल्क के नियमों के बारे में कुछ गतिरोध को समाप्त करने के लिए नया क़ानून बन रहा है)
• IR/Defense: UN Security Council’s ISIL (Da’esh) and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, which is also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee. It looks after the labelling of terrorists and putting sanctions on them. India and the USA proposed to list Lashkar-eTaiba’s (LeT) Pakistan-based deputy chief Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist. But China has blocked proposal. (भारत और अमेरिका संयुक्त राष्ट्र सुरक्षा परिषद की ट्वेंटी सेवन समिति में अब्दुल रहमान मक्की को वैश्विक आतंकवादी घोषित करना चाहती है लेकिन चीन द्वारा गतिरोध बनाया गया।)
• IR/Defense: China’s third aircraft carrier “Fujian”. It is China’s first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier. It has electromagnetic aircraft launch system or EMALS (चीन का तीसरा विमानवाहक जहाज़)
• IR/Defense: Chinese government of rewriting the textbooks to give patriotic EDUCATION. In these new textbooks, Hong Kong was never a British colony. In the 19th century, Britain took over modern day Hong Kong via two wars and a series of treaties. 🤔 In 1946, the UN included Hong Kong on a list of “non-self- governing territories,”. 🤔1960 resolution said the people there should be granted “the right to self-determination.” 🤔 1972: China pushed UN to remove Hong Kong from the list of “non-self- governing territories”. (एक ज़माने में ब्रिटेन ने हांगकांग को अपनी कॉलोनी बनाया था द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के पश्चात संयुक्त राष्ट्र ने उसे स्वराज हीन इलाकों की सूची में शामिल किया था → और ये कहा गया था कि हांगकांग के लोग आत्म निर्णय का अधिकार होगा कि स्वतंत्र रहना है या चीन में शामिल होना है। बाद में चीन ने दबाव डालकर संयुक्त राष्ट्र की इस सूची से हांगकांग को हटवा दिया। अब चीन अपनी स्कूली किताब पाठ्यपुस्तकों में से ये ऐतिहासिक तथ्य ही हटा रहा है कि हांगकांग कभी भी ब्रिटेन की कॉलोनी थी।)
• IR/Defense: Nepal Army refused to sign the State Partnership Programme (SPP) with the USA Army because it goes against Nepal’s non-aligned foreign policy and country’s geo-strategic location. (नेपाल की सेना ने अमरीका के साथ राज्य सरकार प्रोग्राम में शामिल होने से मना किया)

Polity

• Polity: Freedom of Speech: Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 295A – stop Hate Speech. Controversy that it is often misused for penalising political satire / cartoons, banning books / social media. 😥 Lower conviction rates for politically connected persons 😥 police officer can arrest without a warrant — process it selfies often the punishment. (द्वेषपूर्ण भाषण इसके ख़िलाफ़ भारतीय दंड संहिता में प्रावधान तो है लेकिन दुरुपयोग किया जाता है। )
• Polity: Legislature Chief Justice of India N V Ramana’s statement that lack of quality parliamentary debates while enacting laws have led to a spurt in litigation in courts. However, Speaker Om Birla says this is not true. (सर्वोच्च न्यायालय के मुख्य न्यायाधीश ने आलोचना की है कि क्योंकि संसद में क़ानून बनाते वक़्त अच्छी गुणवत्ता की चर्चा नहीं होती इसी कारण से अच्छे क़ानून नहीं बन पाते और मुकदमेबाजी बढ़ती है। हालाँकि लोकसभा स्पीकर ने इस बयान को ग़लत ठहराया है कि संसद में तो बोहोत अच्छी गुणवत्ता की चर्चा होती है।)
• Polity: Federalism: Article 263 of the Constitution empowers the President to constitute Inter-State Council if required. 1988: the Sarkaria Commission suggested the Council should exist as a permanent body. 1990: it came into existence through a Presidential Order. Functions (1) inquiring into and advising on disputes between states/union (2) discussing subjects in which states/union have a common interest, (3) making recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action. 😥 last meeting held in 2016 then no meetings. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to PM ke (1) every year old minimum three meetings to “strengthen the spirit of cooperative federalism” (2) that Bills of national importance be placed before the Council before being tabled in Parliament e.g. APMC / Farm laws. (अंतर राज्य परिषद- जिसका काम है केंद्र और राज्यों के बीच सौहार्द को बढ़ाना और आपसी तालमेल को बढ़ाना, विवादों को सुलझाना, लेकिन उसकी मीटिंग 2016 के बाद हुई ही नहीं इसलिए तमिलनाडु के मुख्यमंत्री ने प्रधानमंत्री को सिफ़ारिश की है कि साल में कम से कम तीन बार तो मिलना चाहिए और ऐसे सभी क़ानून जिसे केंद्र और राज्य के बीच रिश्तों में असर होने वाला है – उन्हें संसद में पास करवाने से पहले उन कानूनों की इस अंतर राज्य परिषद में चर्चा होनी चाहिए)
• Polity-Executive: Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recruited 1,74,744 and 24,836 candidates respectively in 5 years between 2017-18 and 2021-22. On the critics argue this number is not enough to achieve good governance we need to recruit more personal. (पिछले पाँच वर्षों में काफ़ी सरकारी भर्तियां हुई है ऐसा सरकार ने कहा किंतु आलोचकों का मानना है कि और अधिक सरकारी कर्मियों को नियुक्त करने की ज़रूरत तभी सुशासन हो पाएगा)

Science and Environment

• Environment/Pollution: India’s first processed steel slag road at Hazira in Surat. steel slag is a by-product of steel industries. (स्टील उत्पादन के दौरान पैदा हुए कचरे से बनायी गई भारत की सबसे पहले सड़क)
• Environment/Pollution: Electric vehicles are primarily powered by a battery pack consisting of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells. battery management system (BMS) is is applied to the battery pack to make sure it operates safely by measuring the temperature, voltage and current flowing through it. NITI Aayog and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) proposed developing an open source battery management system (BMS) for two and three-wheeler EVs so that companies and researcher can make better quality of products for India (विद्युत वाहनों में लीथियम आयन बैटरी के प्रबंधन के लिए एक BMS प्रणाली होती है। इसकी पूरी तकनीक ओपन सोर्स ज़रिये से सभी कंपनियों को उपलब्ध करवाई जाए ऐसा नीति आयोग का प्रस्ताव है।)
• Environment/ biodiversity: Greater flamingos breed in Great Rann of Kutch (GRK). lesser flamingos breed in GRK as well as in the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK). 2022: This is the first time that greater flamingo mating has been recorded in Porbandar (राजहंस के प्रजनन के इलाक़े)
• Sci-Tech: Public Health – BLACK Death, or the bubonic plague. cased by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It killed millions across Asia, Africa, Mand Europe during 1346-53, remains the biggest pandemic in history.
• Science- Public Health: PROSTHETIC LEGS IIT Guwahati → suitable to the special needs of Indian users. Such as sitting cross-legged, squatting on the toilet, or walking thru uneven terrain. will be available at Rs 25,000. (भारतीय लोगों की ज़रूरतों के अनुकूल हो ऐसे कृत्रिम पैर IIT गुवाहाटी द्वारा बनाए गए)
• Sci-public health: after Corona unlock down – Revenge tourism in Ladakh but many tourist died due to altitude-related complications. So Govt ordered 48hour acclimatisation for tourists visiting the Union Territory. (लद्दाख जा रहे प्रवासियों के लिए वायुजलानुकूलन इसके लिए सरकारी दिशा निर्देश।)

History-Culture:

• History-Culture: ‘Kapilavastu Relics’- from the National Museum are taken to Mongolia, on an 11-day exposition for Mongolian Budhha Purnima celebrations. They’ll be put at Gandan Monastery complex in Ulaanbaatar. ‘Kapilavastu Relics’ are from a site in Bihar believed to be the ancient city of Kapilavastu- discovered in 1898. This gesture will help improving soft diplomacy and religious tourism between Mongolia and India. (कपिलवस्तु के धार्मिक पुरावशेष वैसे तो भारत में संग्रहालय में है किंतु अभी मंगोलिया भेजे गए हैं क्योंकि मंगोलिया में बुद्ध पूर्णिमा मनाई जा रही हे। इससे दोनों ही देशों के बीच नरम कूटनीति और धार्मिक प्रवासन को उत्तेजन मिलेगा)
• History: HRD: NCERT syllabus rationalisation exercise → deleted content on Gujarat riots. “Naxalite movement”, “Emergency”, problems faced by Dalit and Women etc. Reasoning given: 1) “overlapping with similar content included in other subject areas in the same class” and 2) “content irrelevant in the present context”. But critiques against this exercise. NCERT द्वारा पाठ्यपुस्तक में से कई मुद्दों को हटाया गया- क्योंकि अलग अलग कक्षाओं की किताबों में उसका व्यर्थ दोहराव हो रहा था और उसमें से कुछ मुद्दे वर्तमान परिपेक्ष में ज़्यादा उपयोगी नहीं है इसलिए बच्चों पर पढ़ाई का बोझ कम करना है इसलिए NCERT ने उन मुद्दों को डिलीट किया है हालाँकि आलोचक नाराज़ हैं कि मोदी सरकार द्वारा इतिहास को अपनी सुविधा के हिसाब से लिखाया हटाया जा रहा है.

Page Geography

• Geography: Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) — is the imaginary line indicating the areas covered by the Southwest monsoon. Presently passed through Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Khandwa, Gondia, Durg, Bhawanipura, Kalingapatnam, Malda and Motihari. (नॉर्दन लिमिट ऑफ़ मॉनसून एक काल्पनिक रेखा है जोकि दिखाती है कि दक्षिण पश्चिमी मॉनसून किन इलाकों तक पहुँचा है)
• Geography: Mawsynram in Meghalaya, the world’s wettest place. (2) Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, among the world’s wettest locations (दुनिया की सबसे नमी/बारिश वाली जगह)

Page PIN/GPSC

• Death: Hari Chand- middle and long-distance running athlete.
• PIN: Sheryl Sandberg: Facebook COO. Resigned to start new chapter in life. ज़िंदगी के नए अध्याय की शुरुआत के लिए फ़ेसबुक कंपनी से दिया इस्तीफ़ा
• PIN: 2000: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaked confidential documents of governments and companies → USA wants to prosecute but he was hiding in embassy in London. Now UK approved his extradition. (जूलियन असांज जिसने कई देशों की सरकार और कंपनियों के गुप्त दस्तावेज़ अपनी वेबसाइट विकिलीक्स पर सार्वजनिक किए थे उसका अमेरिका में मुक़दमा चल रहा है लेकिन वो ब्रिटेन में छुपा था अब ब्रिटेन से अमेरिका प्रत्यार्पण होने वाला है)
• PIN: LITTLE AMAL is a 12-foot-tall puppet depicting a 10-year-old Syrian refugee. It has been taken to big leaders in Europe for highlighting the concerns of refugees. (सीरियाई शरणार्थियों के मुद्दे को प्रकाश देने के लिए छोटी अमाल नामकि एक बड़ी कठपुतली)
• Death: GOPICHAND NARANG: Urdu scholar.
• GPSC: Mukhyamantri Matrushakti Yojana: Pregnant / lactating mothers to be given 2 kg chickpeas, 1 kg toor daal and 1 litre fortified ground nut oil to combat malnutrition
• GPSC: Justice Bela Trivedi, the first woman judge of Gujarat HC to be elevated to SC,
• GPSC: PM inaugurated the redeveloped Kalika Mata temple in Pavagadh
• GPSC: FDI inflow: Gujarat slips from No1 to No6 place in FDI- behind Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Haryana, attracting a mere Rs 20,169 crore in 2021-’22.
• GPSC: New Greenfield Airport at Dholera, Gujarat, by – Dholera International Airport Company Limited (DIACL), which is a Joint Venture Company comprising Airports Authority of India (AAI), Government of Gujarat (GoG) and National Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT) with shareholding in the ratio of 51:33:16.
• GPSC: Bharatiya Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (BGSV) at Vadodara, which will be officially declared the Central University of Railways.