Civil Services Chronicle April 2020

1 15TH FINANCE COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS TABLED IN THE PARLIAMENT

2 Government Abolishes Dividend Distribution Tax

3 National Technical Textiles Mission

4 India marks the beginning of “Super Year of BioDiversity” with CMS COP

5 India Hops on Quantum Supremacy Bandwagon with NM-QTA

6 Trump’s India Visit: Bonhomie in Indo-US Relations on Display but Muted Outcome

East Africa

1 Five Years of Soil Health Card Scheme

2 Revamping Crop Insurance Schemes

3 Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill, 2020

4 RBI to Align its Accounting Year with Fiscal Year

5 ADB Lists Masala Bonds on India INX

6 Major Ports Authority Bill

7 Vadhavan Port – India’s 13th Major Port

1 Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020

2 Cabinet approves Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020

3 J&K Public Safety Act Invoked Against Political Leaders

4 Supreme Court Upholds Constitutional Validity of SC & ST Amendment Act, 2018

5 Supreme Court Panel Recommends Several Prison Reforms

6 Reservation in Job Promotions not a Fundamental Right: Supreme Court

7 SC Directs States to Issue Notification for Establishing Gram Nyayalayas

1 USTR Takes India off Developing Country List

2 India, Portugal Sign Seven Agreements

3 Visit of Sri Lankan PM to India

4 Maldives Rejoins Commonwealth

5 Embarking on Uncertain Future: U.K. Leaves European Union

6 Ethiopia Hosts the 33rd Annual Summit of African Union

1 Aditya-L1: India’s First Solar Mission

2 ESA-NASA Launch Solar Orbiter Mission

3 Biggest Explosion Since Big Bang Detected

4 ISRO Soon to Launch First Geo Imaging Satellite- GISAT-1

5 ESA’s CHEOPS Sends First Image

6 Defence Expo 2020: Fostering Synergies in Defence Sector

1 FUND RELEASED FOR GREEN INDIA MISSION

2 Pangolins: A Suspect for the Spread of Coronavirus

3 Himalayan Wolves with Hypoxia Adaptation are Separate Species

4 Locust Attack Destroying Crops in Several Countries

5 Tiger Territory Threatened in Arunachal Pradesh

6 The Future of Earth 2020 Report

7 Urban Heat Islands in India

1 ON THE HOT SEAT

2 FACES ONLY IN MEMORY

3 PLACES IN NEWS

4 ORGANISATIONS

5 SUMMIT/SEMINAR

6 DEFENCE

7 MISCELLANEOUS

8 WORLD OF AWARDS

1 Five Sites to be Developed as Iconic Sites

2 Conservation Plan for Konark Sun Temple on the anvil

3 Sant Ravidas

1 NITI Aayog Report Flags Discrepancies in Maternity Benefit Scheme

2 School Health Ambassador Initiative Curriculum launched under Ayushman Bharat

3 Happiness Curriculum

4 ‘A Future for the World’s Children’ Report

1 PIB Corner

2 PIB Corner

3 PIB Corner

4 PIB Corner

5 PIB Corner

1 Second National Judicial Pay Commission Report

2 Cabinet Approves Formation of 22nd Law Commission

3 Ease of Living Index and Municipal Performance Index 2019 Launched

4 Cooperative Banks to Come Under RBI Purview

5 Project Monitoring Group Portal

6 Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission Celebrates 4th Anniversary

7 World Bank Assistance for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

8 Government Approval for Farmer Producer Organizations

9 RBI to Release Digital Payment Index by July 2020

10 Government to Create Investment Clearance Cell

11 World Wetlands Day 2020

12 Rubigula: Chosen as National Games Mascot

13 Pavan Sukhdev wins Tyler Award 2020

14 New Species of Urban Lizard Found in Guwahati

15 Punjab Agro Launches 'Punjab Kinnow'

16 M.M. Wildlife Sanctuary to be a Tiger Reserve Soon

17 C gretathunbergae: A new Snail Species named after Greta Thunberg

18 Jalyukta Shivar Scrapped

19 2020 CD3: Earth’s New Mini-moon

20 Artificial Intelligence Based Module in Indian Schools

21 Henneguya salminicola: First Animal that doesn’t Need Oxygen to Live

22 Second BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise-2020

23 Worldwide Educating for the Future Index 2019

24 India-Maldives MoU on Addu Tourism

25 India and Norway Strengthen Partnership on Blue Economy

1 PARLIAMENT Q & A

1 Anti-Dumping Duty on Purified Terephthalic Acid Abolished

2 Cabinet approves Pesticide Management Bill – 2020

3 SUTRA-PIC India Programme

4 SATHI Initiative to bring Scientific Research & Commercial Activity under One Roof

Mock Test Papers

Prelims

1 PRELIMS Mock Test 2020

Constitution, Polity & Governance

General Studies Paper II

1 Financial Relations

2 Breach of Parliamentary Privilege

3 AFSPA Extended in Nagaland

4 One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Amendment Bill, 2019

5 Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2019

6 India Celebrates 70 years of Adoption of the Constitution

7 Composition of Parliament

8 Andhra Pradesh Passes Resolution to Abolish Legislative Council

9 Hindi as Language of Unity

10 ​Special Protection Group (Amendment) Act, 2019

11 Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2019

12 Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019

13 Government Not to Abrogate or Modify Article 371

14 Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019

15 National Population Register to Kick- start from Delhi

16 One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Amendment Bill, 2019

17 NCST urges Government to include Ladakh under Sixth Schedule

18 Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Merged

19 Ministry of Home Affairs Extends Inner Line Permit to Manipur

20 CJI to Come Under RTI

21 Supreme Court upholds MLAs’ Disqualification

22 Sabarimala Majority Ruling: Review Pending, Scope Widened

23 Ayodhya Verdict

24 Transfer of Judges

25 Regional Supreme Court Benches and ‘Divisions’ of the Top Court

26 Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 2019

27 Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2019

28 Government Launches Good Governance Index

29 Electoral Bonds

30 Code of Ethics for Social Media during Elections

31 EC to Increase VVPAT Verification from One EVM to Five

32 No Voting Rights for Prisoners

33 Government Reconstitutes Eight Cabinet Committees

34 Private Member’s Bill

35 Parliamentary Standing Committees

36 Types of Parliamentary Committees

37 Judicial Power of President to Grant Clemency

38 States Invoking Article 131 to Challenge Central Laws

39 Office of Profit

40 Government launches new ‘Jal Shakti’ Ministry

41 Section 144, CrPC: A Relic of Colonial Era

42 Cabinet approves Creation of Sixth Deputy CAG Post

43 ECI wants No Tickets for Candidates with Criminal Past

44 Central Information Commission

45 Delimitation Commission

46 Six Years on, Lokpal is a Non-Starter

47 Tribunals

48 India gets its First Chief of Defence Staff

49 NITI Aayog to Develop National Data Platform

50 Central Bureau of Investigation

51 Northern Zonal Council Meet in Chandigarh

52 Govt Sets up National Startup Advisory Council

53 Minority Institutions can be Regulated by State

54 NCPCR Ordered to Report on Detention of Children during CAA Protests

55 SUMAN Scheme

56 NSO Survey Debunks Swachh Bharat Claims

57 PM Matru Vandana Yojana: Insufficient Coverage

58 Atal Bhujal Yojana: A Scheme for Groundwater

59 PM Releases Guidelines for Jal Jeevan Mission

60 National AIDS Control Programme-IV to continue for 3 More Years

61 Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan

62 Rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes Mooted

63 ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ Scheme

64 Poshan Abhiyan

65 Accessible India Campaign’s Deadline Extended

66 Ayushman Bharat Completes One Year of its Launch

67 E-Governance Initiatives for ST Welfare Schemes

68 FeFA Girls’ Initiative to tackle Malnutrition launched in Telangana

69 Kanyashree Scheme

General Studies Mains Questions And Answers

1 It is projected that 20% of Indian Population would be above 60 years of age by 2050. Assess the preparedness of India by listing down the issues faced by elderly in India and measures taken by government to address them.

2 What is Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction? Enlist the measures taken by India which are in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

3 Citizen’s charter is an important instrument for ensuring accountability, transparency and grievance redressal. Evaluate the performance of citizen charter’s in India, also highlight the issues plaguing it and suggest measures to counter them.

4 Liaquat-Nehru Pact was in news off late due to controversy related to recent amendments in citizenship act. Highlight the provisions of the pact and the environmental context which led to its formation.

5 The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts have infused life in the working of rural and urban local government institutions. Discuss critically.

6 What is the proposed Green credit scheme of the Government? Critically evaluate the significance of the scheme.

7 Sand Mining has become one of the grave environmental challenges in India. Elucidate.

8 China recently held military exercises in the South China Sea (SCS) ahead of third anniversary of the PCA ruling in favour of Philippines reinforcing its claims in the world’s most critical trade route via sea. What is the strategic Importance of South China Sea and explain various issues involved with it.

9 Recently, the Union Environment Ministry had issued a draft notification that seeks to regulate membrane-based water filtration systems in areas where the source of water meets drinking water norms of the Bureau of Indian Standards. This primarily affects reverse osmosis (RO)-based water filtration systems and the rules effectively prohibit homes from installing domestic RO systems. Brief in short, what is Reverse Osmosis? What is the problem with Reverse Osmosis? Explain.

10 Recently, the Parliament has made passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, which had been framed for the welfare of transgender persons. What are the salient features of the Bill? What are the concerns raised? Critically analyse.

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