Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The Kerala government is carrying out a unique programme called “Namath Basai” of teaching tribal children in their mother tongue.
• The programme, implemented by the SamagraSiksha Kerala (SSK), has succeeded in retaining hundreds of tribal children in their online classes by making them feel at home with the language of instruction.
• It offers pre-recorded classes through a YouTube channel in three tribal languages in Attappady valley in Palakkad District Kerala.
• These languages are Irula, Muduka and Kurumba.
• Namath Basai is being introduced in the tribal belts of Wayanad and Idukki as well. Classes are offered in the Oorali, Mutuvan and Paniya languages in Idukki.

Explanation :

Myopia

• Myopia is the term used to define being shortsighted.
• A myopic person has clear vision when looking at objects close to them, but distant objects will appear blurred. This is because light is focused in front of the retina and, being too far forward in the eye, things in the distance look blurred.

Presbyopia

• It occurs when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close. It is a normal part of aging.

Hypermetropia

• Sometimes called hyperopia, is the term used to define being longsighted.
• If one is hypermetropic, the image of a nearby object is formed behind the retina. This means that light is focused too far back in the eye, causing things which are close up to appear blurred.

Explanation :

Gallantry Awards

• The gallantry awards are announced twice in a year – on Republic Day and Independence Day.
• Order of precedence: ParamVir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Vir Chakra and Shaurya Chakra.

Wartime gallantry awards

• Established on 26th January, 1950 with effect from 15th August, 1947.
• ParamVir Chakra: Highest-military award in India. Awarded for National bravery in the presence of enemy.
• MahaVir Chakra: Second-highest military decoration in India. Awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in presence of enemy, whether on land, at sea or in air.
• Vir Chakra: Third in precedence in the awards for wartime gallantry.

Peacetime gallantry awards

• Established on 4th January, 1952 with effect from 15th August, 1947.
• Ashoka Chakra: An Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It is the peacetime equivalent of the ParamVir Chakra.
• Kirti Chakra: Second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards.
• Shaurya Chakra: Third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards.

Explanation :

• Article 129: The Supreme Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
• Article 215: Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
• Article 32 of the Indian Constitution and Article 226 of the Indian Constitution lay down the provisions for filing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Supreme Court and High Courts respectively.

Explanation :

• The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east.
• Three subspecies are recognized —E. m. maximus from Sri Lanka, E. m. indicus from mainland Asia and E. m. sumatranus from the island of Sumatra.
• Asian elephants inhabit grasslands, tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and dry thorn forests, in addition to cultivated and secondary forests and scrublands.

Conservation Status

• Government of India has declared Indian elephant as National Heritage Animal in year 2010.
• Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.
• It is listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The Asian elephant is listed on CITES Appendix I.

Explanation :

• The National Health Policy, 2017 (NHP, 2017) seeks to reach everyone in a comprehensive integrated way to move towards wellness.
• It aims at achieving universal health coverage and delivering quality health care services to all at affordable cost.
• It denotes an important change towards a comprehensive primary health care package which includes care for major NCDs (non-communicable diseases), mental health, geriatric health care, palliative care and rehabilitative care services.
• It envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary health care through the ‘Health and Wellness Centres’.
• The policy proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency and essential health care services in all public hospitals in a bid to provide access and financial protection.
• It also envisages a three-dimensional integration of AYUSH systems encompassing cross referrals, co-location and integrative practices across systems of medicines.
• The policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP by 2025.

Explanation :

• Odisha continued to be the top performer in implementation of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Scheme (AMRUT) by making significant strides in providing piped water supply to households in urban areas of the State.
• According to the ranking of the states released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Odisha has secured first position by scoring 85.67 percent.
• Nine cities of the State - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela, Baripada, Balasore, Bhadrak, Berhampur and Puri - are covered under the scheme.
• Odisha is followed by Chandigarh, Telangana, Gujarat and Karnataka in the implementation of AMRUT.

AMRUT Scheme

• It was launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• It aims to ensure universal coverage of drinking water supply and substantial improvement in coverage and treatment capacities of sewerage and septage along with storm water drainage, non-motorized urban transport and green spaces and parks.

Explanation :

• The term Mitakshara is derived from the name of a commentary written by Vijnaneswara, on the Yajnavalkya Smriti.
• It is observed in all parts of India and subdivided into the Benares, the Mithila, the Maharashtra and the Dravida schools.
• According to the Mitakshara law school a joint family refers only to the male member of a family and extends to include his son, grandson and great-grandson. They collectively have co-ownership/Coparcenary in the Joint Family.Thus a son by birth acquires an interest in the ancestral property of the joint family.
• Under this school all the members of the Joint family enjoy coparcenary rights during the father’s lifetime.
• Here, none of the members of the coparceners can claim a definite physical share of the joint property. So partition in this system involves in ascertaining and defining the share of the coparcener i.e.In the numerical division of the property.
• In the Mitakshara system the wife cannot demand partition. She however has the right to a share in any partition affected between her husband and her sons.

Explanation :

• On 4th August, 2020, Tourism Ministry virtually inaugurated the state-of-the-art Thenzawl Golf Resort project in Mizoram.
• The project was implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
• It was sanctioned under the Integrated Development of New Eco-Tourism under Swadesh Darshan-North East Circuit at Thenzawl and South Zote, District Serchhip and Reiek, Mizoram.
• The Golf Course is designed by Graham Cooke and Associates, one of the top-ranked Canada based Golf Course architectural firm.

Explanation :

• The Indian Council for Cultural Relations(ICCR) is an autonomous body under the administrative control of the Ministry of External Affairs.
• It was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who was the first Education Minister of independent India.
• Its objectives are to actively participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes pertaining to India’s external cultural relations; to foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries; to promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people, and to develop relations with nations.
• ICCR has also been assigned the responsibility of facilitating the celebration of the International Day of Yoga by Indian Missions/Posts abroad since 2015.
• It publishes six quarterly journals in five different languages: