Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Pangolins are mammals of the order Pholidota.
• The one extant family, Manidae, has three genera: Manis, Phataginus and Smutsia.
• Pangolins have large, protective keratin scales covering their skin; they are the only known mammals with this feature.
• These are nocturnal, and their diet consists of mainly ants and termites, which they capture using their long tongues.
• Of the eight species of pangolin worldwide, two are found in India.

Protection Status

• Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) has been listed as “endangered”.
• Chinese pangolin has been listed as “critically endangered”.
• It is also a Schedule I category protected animal, under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).

Explanation :

Mugger

• The mugger crocodile, also called the Indian crocodile, or marsh crocodile, is found throughout the Indian subcontinent.
• It is mainly a freshwater species, and found in lakes, rivers and marshes.

Conservation Status

• IUCN : Vulnerable
• CITES : Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Saltwater Crocodile

• It is the largest of all living reptiles.
• It is found throughout the east coast of India.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Least Concern
• CITES: Appendix I (except the populations of Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, which are included in Appendix II).
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Gharial

• The Gharial or fish eating crocodile is native to the Indian subcontinent.
• The chambal river in the northern slopes of the Vindhya mountains ( Madhya Pradesh) is known as the primary habitat of gharials.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Critically Endangered
• CITES : Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Explanation :

• Axone , also spelled akhuni, is a fermented soya bean of Nagaland, known for its distinctive flavour and smell.
• As much an ingredient as it is a condiment, axone used to make pickles and chutneys or curries.
• It is prepared and eaten across Nagaland mainly by the Sumi (also Sema) tribe.
• It belongs to the broader phenomena of fermentation necessary for food preservation in certain ecological contexts.

Sumi Tribe

• It is one of the major ethnic group in Nagaland.
• The Sumis mainly inhabit Zunheboto district, Dimapur district and Kiphire district although many have spread and are now living in a few more districts within Nagaland.
• Sumi Naga tribe practiced kiti-do and were headhunters as every other Naga tribe.
• Tuluni and Ahuna are the major festivals.

Explanation :

• The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts and was added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951.
• It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with Article 31A was brought in by the government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system.
• The First Amendment added 13 laws to the Schedule. Subsequent amendments in 1955, 1964, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1990, 1994, and 1999 have taken the number of protected laws to 284.

Article 31A and 31 B

• While Article 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws, A. 31B shields specific laws or enactments.
• Article 31B also has retrospective operation: meaning if laws are inserted in the Ninth Schedule after they are declared unconstitutional, they are considered to have been in the Schedule since their commencement, and thus valid.
• Although Article 31B excludes judicial review, the apex court has said in the past that even laws under the Ninth Schedule would be open to scrutiny if they violated fundamental rights or the basic structure of the Constitution.

Explanation :

• GST Council is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
• It is a constitutional body under Article 279A.
• It was introduced by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.

Structure

According to the article, GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:

• The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson
• As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance
• The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.

Functions

• The GST Council dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.
• The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.

Explanation :

• The Raja Parba of Odisha is one of most popular festivals of the state.
• This is a three-day-long festival dedicated to Bhuma Devi, the consort of Lord Vishnu, Raja Parba celebrates womanhood.
• The festivities begin a day before Mithuna Sankranti and conclude two days after that.
• The first day of the festival is called Pahili Raja, the second is Mithuna Sankranti and the third Bhu daha or Basi Raja.
• The preparation begins one day before Pahili Raja, and it is called Sajabaja. Primarily, it is a time for the unmarried girls to prepare for their matrimony.
• They follow various customs related to the festival by consuming nutritious food like Podapitha, not walking barefoot, taking a bath on the first day, and merrily swinging on ropes attached to a tree.
• During the Parba, Odia people do not undertake any construction works or tilling that requires the earth to be dug. And by not doing such activities, they pay ode to the Mother Earth who needs a break from routine work.
• The festival concludes with a custom called Vasumati Snana or the bathing of Bhuma Devi.
• This festival is also associated with the end of the summer season and the arrival of the monsoon.
• And therefore, it is also associated with agriculture and cultivation related communities and activities.

Explanation :

On 3rd June, 2020, the government announced the renaming of Kolkata Port Trust after Syama Prasad Mukherjee at a function to mark the 150th-anniversary celebrations of the port trust

Kolkata Port

• The Kolkata Port is the first Major Port as well as the only riverine port of the country.
• It came to be governed by a Trust on October 17, 1870, on appointment of the Commissioners for Improvement of the Port of Calcutta as per Act V of 1870.
• It features in The First Schedule, Part I—Major Ports of the Indian Ports Act, 1908 and is governed by the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963.

Explanation :

• On the occasion of the World Environment Day (5^th June, 2020), Andhra Pradesh government launched an online waste management platform to handle liquid waste, hazardous, and non-hazardous solid waste and air pollutants.
• The Andhra Pradesh Environment Management Corporation (APEMC), which will handle the platform, will henceforth be responsible for safe disposal of all industrial waste generated in the state.
• The APEMC will streamline collection of the waste from industries, sort and streamline the waste as hazardous or non-hazardous or e-waste according to category, and scientifically dispose it off at various waste disposal centres.
• It will work in close coordination with Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB), with a strong regulatory framework to handle the waste from cradle to grave,” Reddy said.

Need

• Andhra Pradesh has a large number of industries falling under red and orange categories, which generate significant quantities of liquid waste, hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste and air pollutants.
• They also generate other waste like e-waste, which needs to be addressed. As of now, the waste management system is not adequately organised to handle the total quantity being generated.
• Hence, there is a requirement for an appropriate system intervention to streamline and scientifically dispose off the waste generated in the state.

Explanation :

• Border adjustment tax is a short name for a proposed destination-based cash flow tax (DBCFT).
• It is a value-added tax on imported goods and is also referred to as a border-adjusted tax, destination tax or border tax adjustment.
• The border adjustment tax (BAT) levies a tax depending on where a good is consumed rather than where it is produced.
• It is a fiscal measure that imposes a charge on goods or services in accordance with the destination principle of taxation.
• BAT seeks to promote “equal conditions of competition” for foreign and domestic companies supplying products or services within a taxing jurisdiction.

Explanation :

• Uttar Pradesh government has completed skill mapping of migrant workers who have returned from other states during lockdown and this mapping will help them getting work near to their places.
• The list includes construction workers, painters, carpenters, drivers, electricians and persons associated with electronics, security guards, furniture and fitting workers and auto-repair mechanics.
• The government has constituted Migrant Commission which will ensure employment as well as social security for the migrant workers.
• It has also decided to offer insurance to secure the lives of migrant labourers and called for a scheme to ensure job security for them in the state.