The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on a plea challenging Allahabad High Court's judgment striking down 'UP Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004'.
GS Paper - III
Nigeria is poised to make a significant leap in its military capabilities by becoming the first nation to purchase four Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) through a soft credit arrangement. This development marks a milestone in international defence partnerships and highlights Nigeria’s commitment to enhancing its aerial defence capabilities.
GS Paper - III
Dyslexia occurs in about 5%-10% of people worldwide, making it the most common learning disorder. The symptoms can present as early as in infancy. Boys are affected two to three times more often than girls.
GS Paper - II
A chatbot with the ability to call out fake news and misinformation was able to persuade participants in a study to have second thoughts about their beliefs — which suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used as a tool to combat conspiracy theories and disinformation.
GS Paper - III
On 17 September 2024, Prime Minister launched the Subhadra Yojana, the Odisha government’s scheme to transfer Rs 10,000 per year to eligible women beneficiaries in the state between the ages of 21 and 60.
GS Paper - III
The crew of the Polaris Dawn mission conducted the first ever private spacewalk on 12 September 2024, crossing yet another milestone for private industry in the space sector. The mission executed by billionaire Jared Isaacman and Elon Musk’s SpaceX is not regulated by NASA or the US government in any way. This, some have pointed, violates a treaty that the country signed more than 50 years ago. Here is how.
GS Paper - III
“Food versus fuel” is a familiar debate in the context of sugarcane, rice, maize, palm or soyabean oil being diverted for the production of ethanol and biodiesel. But there’s also a looming “food versus cars” dilemma, which is linked to phosphoric acid — the key ingredient in di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), India’s second most consumed fertiliser after urea — increasingly finding its way into the production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
GS Paper - II
Delhi, last month, hosted a first-of-its-kind dialogue on the conservation, restoration and governance of common resources such as forests, community lands, and water bodies like lakes or rivers, all usually referred to just as Commons. More than 500 people, most of them representing grassroots organisations in different parts of India, attended the three-day event. It was organised to raise awareness about the need to evolve more inclusive and community-led frameworks for the governance of the Commons.
GS Paper - I
Millions of people in Southeast Asia continue to struggle with torrential rains, floods, and landslides triggered by Typhoon Yagi — the strongest tropical cyclone Asia has seen this year and the second most powerful storm in the world so far this year after Hurricane Beryl.
GS Paper - II
Turkey has decided to officially bid to join BRICS, a grouping of some of the world’s emerging economies, originally comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — but largely dominated by Moscow and Beijing.
GS Paper - III
OpenAI has dropped its latest AI model, which is part of its secretive ‘Project Strawberry’. The new OpenAI o1 is the first in a planned series of “reasoning” models that have been designed to solve more complex tasks and problems in science, coding, and maths.
GS Paper - III
China is seeking public feedback on a plan to include cement, steel, and aluminium production in its carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) by the end of the year, in a move it hopes will boost market liquidity.
GS Paper - III
G42, an AI firm based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has unveiled a new large language model (LLM) called NANDA that will specifically cater to Hindi-speaking users. Named after one of India’s highest peaks, NANDA has been jointly developed by G42 subsidiary Inception and Cerebras Systems along with researchers from the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in UAE.
GS Paper - III
The United States and United Kingdom have both agreed to review Ukraine’s request to lift restrictions on the use of their long-range missiles, including Storm Shadow missiles, in Russian territory. But the growing indications from the West that it may approve Ukraine’s desire to use these weapons deep inside Russian territory have also sparked a terse response – and threat – from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
GS Paper - III
Two NASA astronauts aboard Boeing’s Starliner will stay on the International Space Station for months because of a faulty propulsion system whose problems included helium leaks. Back on Earth, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, which finally launched on 10 September 2024, was delayed because of helium issues on ground equipment. Past missions that have been affected by pesky helium leaks include ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 and ESA’s Ariane 5.
GS Paper - II
The China on 13 September 2024 approved proposals to raise the statutory retirement age from 50 to 55 for women in blue-collar jobs, and from 55 to 58 for females in white-collar jobs. Men will see an increase from 60 to 63. The change will set in from 1 January 2025, with the respective retirement ages raised every few months over the next 15 years.
GS Paper - II
Port Blair, the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, will now be known as ‘Sri Vijaya Puram’, Union Minister Amit Shah said on 13 September 2024. The decision of changing the name was inspired by “to free the nation from colonial imprints”. Sri Vijaya Puram symbolises the victory achieved in our freedom struggle and the A&N Islands’ unique role in the same.”
GS Paper - III
Scientists agree that preserving the Amazon rainforest is critical to combating global warming, but new data indicate huge swathes of the jungles that are vital to the world’s climate remain unprotected. Nearly 40% of the areas of the Amazon rainforest most critical to curbing climate change have not been granted special government protection, as either nature or indigenous reserves, according to an analysis by nonprofit Amazon Conservation.
GS Paper - II
The Union cabinet approved the expansion of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) health cover to all Indians of age 70 years and older irrespective of their income. The registration for the expanded insurance scheme was likely to begin within a week.
GS Paper - II
Hindi Diwas, also known as National Hindi Day, is celebrated annually to commemorate the adoption of Hindi as one of the official languages of India. In 2024, it is celebrating on 14 September 2024. While the Constitution of India does not give any language the status of national language, Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of the central government and the Union as per Article 343.
GS Paper - III
Ahead of the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organization recently published its first-ever guidance on antibiotic pollution from manufacturing. The emergence and spread of AMR (antimicrobial resistance) caused by antibiotic pollution could undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics globally, including the medicines produced at the manufacturing sites…, the WHO said on 3 September 2024.
GS Paper - II
Vietnam and the Philippines agreed at the end of August to boost their defense links and deepen collaboration on maritime security. The announcement came as Vietnam’s Defense Minister Phan Van Giang visited Manila for talks with his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro.
GS Paper - III
Earlier this month, the Centre approved the transfer of 256 acres of salt pan land in Mumbai to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), a joint venture between Adani Realty Group and the Maharashtra government, for building rental housing for slum dwellers. This invited criticism from opposition leaders and environmentalists, who said that the decision to “benefit Adani” would damage the fragile ecosystem.
GS Paper - I
12 September marks the 127th anniversary of the Battle of Saragarhi, regarded today as one of the finest last stands in global military history. On this day in 1897, 21 soldiers were pitted against over 8,000 Afridi and Orakzai tribal militants and managed to hold down the fort for seven hours.
GS Paper - III
Vehicles equipped with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the new satellite-based road toll collection system, will be able to travel for free up to 20 km in each direction every day on national highways and expressways, the government has said. GNSS is intended to eventually replace FASTag for toll collection on highways. The movement of the vehicle will be tracked by satellite, and users will pay toll only for the distance they have travelled, rather than the fixed amounts for set distances that they pay now.
GS Paper - II
The Centre and Tamil Nadu have been sparring once again over the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, with TN Chief Minister MK Stalin and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan exchanging letters.
GS Paper - III
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida on 10 September 2024, carrying American billionaire Jared Isaacman and three others into orbit to attempt the world’s first private spacewalk. The five-day mission, known as Polaris Dawn, is the first of three testing and development missions under the Polaris Program, which will be jointly executed by Isaacman and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The program aims to develop new technologies that could be used to send people to Mars some day.
GS Paper - III
A study of adolescent brain development that tested children before and after the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns in the United States found that girls’ brains aged far faster than expected, something the researchers attributed to social isolation. The study from the University of Washington published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences measured cortical thinning, a process that starts in late childhood or early adolescence, as the brain begins to prune redundant synapses and shrink its outer layer. (‘COVID-19 lockdown effects on adolescent brain structure suggest accelerated maturation that is more pronounced in females than in males’: Neva M Corrigan et al.)
GS Paper - III
The global energy transition has been slowing down, much slower than is necessary in the past three years, with a 6% increase in global average ETI scores since 2015, owing to the increasing global uncertainty. However, the energy systems around the world are beginning to change, driven by the rise of clean energy investments, improved regulatory frameworks, growing urgency to tackle climate crises, and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.
GS Paper - III
Researchers have discovered an antibody that could counter all known variants of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 and also distantly related ones that infect other animals.
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