What’s the news? A February report commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme on the environmental challenges posed by noise, wildfires and the disruption of biological rhythms of plants, animals and ecological cycles became controversial on account of the mention …
Context India and Australia have signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). The landmark bilateral trade pact is the second trade agreement India has signed this year after inking a similar deal with the United Arab Emirates in February. …
Context The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently announced the reduction of “disturbed areas” under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland with effect from April 1. The decision was based on the recommendations of a …
Why in News: Google Pay has recently launched a new feature in India, ‘Tap to pay for UPI’. The feature makes use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The functionality will allow users with NFC-enabled Android smartphones and UPI accounts …
What’s in News: The results of a study to understand the pace of evolution, titled — “direct observation of adaptive tracking on ecological timescales — in Drosophila” was published in the journal Science. Taking fruit flies ( Drosophila melanogaster) as …
What’s in the news? The Government of India has significantly reduced the footprint of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 in the Northeast, withdrawing it entirely from 23 districts in Assam; and partially from seven districts in Nagaland, …
Why in the news? The Supreme Court will take up a petition seeking identification of minorities at the state level and granting minority status to Hindus in states and union territories where their numbers have gone below other communities. What …
Background: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been constituted under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. NTCA has been at the forefront of tiger conservation work in India. It’s work domain extends from on the ground protection initiatives to science based …
About NCAP National Clean Air Program (NCAP) is a pollution control initiative that was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2019. This is the first ever effort in the country to frame a national framework …
About Ethanol Ethanol, an anhydrous ethyl alcohol having chemical formula of C2H5OH, can be produced from sugarcane, maize, wheat, etc which are having high starch content. In India, ethanol is mainly produced from sugarcane molasses by fermentation process. Ethanol can …