1. ‘Kerala Savari’, India’s first online taxi service as a public option Why is the Kerala government launching its own app-based taxi service? How is it different from existing private players? Kerala has soft launched ‘Kerala Savari’, to ensure decent service to passengers along with fair remuneration to auto-taxi workers. It is operated by the […]
1. Facing govt. action, Huawei to dial down R&D operations Decision comes after I-T searches and probes into ‘national security’ aspects Suhasini Haidar Mini Tejaswi NEW DELHI/ BENGALURU Faced with income tax searches, exclusion from 5G telecom trials and increasing restrictions on research collaborations, Chinese telecom major Huawei is planning to downsize operations at its […]
1. Improving rice yield with an additional gene Adding a second copy of one of its own genes has boosted the yield of a Chinese rice variety by up to 40% The Green Revolution of the 1960s brought about a marked improvement in the yield of agricultural crops such as rice and wheat. It was […]
1. Indian team deliberating on ocean diversity pact A key aspect of the agreement is deciding on the rights of companies that undertake exploration for marine resources A delegation from India and other member countries of the United Nations are in New York to deliberate on a one-of-its-kind agreement to conserve marine biodiversity in the […]
1. Bustards adapt to produce 2-egg clutch New behaviour, a result of increased feed after excessive rain, hailed as a record The perceived beliefs and recorded observations of egg laying habit of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) have changed after the recent excessive rains in western Rajasthan. The critically endangered bird species has adopted an altogether […]
1. What is causing Arctic warming? Why is the Greenland ice sheet melting at an alarming rate? How is it affecting the monsoons? Due to global warming, any change in the surface air temperature and the net radiation balance tends to produce larger changes at the north and south poles. These changes are more pronounced […]
1. Understanding ethanol blending How is ethanol extracted? What are the environmental concerns with respect to this process? Blending ethanol with petrol to burn less fossil fuel while running vehicles is called ethanol blending. Ethanol is an agricultural by-product. It’s mainly obtained in the processing of sugar from sugarcane, but also from other sources such as […]
1. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh What are the various unresolved issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan which has led to consistent ceasefire violations? The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains stalemated despite several ceasefire agreements. Both Baku and Yerevan claim absolute historic ownership of the region which is located within the boundaries of Azerbaijan but populated largely by ethnic […]
1. ‘Subsidies on power will continue’ Power Secretary says State governments will have the discretion to continue concessions The Centre’s move to introduce the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022 has stoked protests by Opposition parties and trade unions on the grounds that it violated the Constitutional principles of federalisation and was a step towards privatising the […]
1. ‘29 elephant poaching cases in 3 years’ The period also saw 90 cases of seizure of tusks/ivory, Forest Ministry tells Lok Sabha In the past three years, 90 cases of seizure of elephant tusks/ivory have been reported in India along with 29 cases of poaching of elephants. The data were shared by the Ministry […]
1. What is the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022? How is the recent legislation different from the earlier Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920? What are the main concerns and oppositions against the Act? The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 provides legal sanction to law enforcement agencies for “taking measurements of convicts and other persons for […]
1. The new U.S. Bill on climate action Does the new Bill completely leave out fossil fuel industries? What are the listed incentives to switch to clean energy? On August 7, the U.S. Senate approved a bill titled the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022. The IRA has a special focus on climate, healthcare, and tax […]
1. How the maiden flight of ISRO’s SSLV went awry Why did the ISRO prefer a SSLV over the PSLV or GSLV? What was the designated function of the satellites on-board the vehicle? The SSLV D1/EOS-2 mission was carrying two satellites — the Earth Observation Satellite-2 (EOS-2 and AzadiSAT. However, the mission failed to place […]
1. The workings of the Supreme Court collegium How is the collegium constituted and what are its responsibilities? Who is set to be the next Chief Justice of India? The collegium of the Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice of India and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court make recommendations for appointments to […]
1. RBI raises rates, vows nimble policy Policy repo rate raised by 50 basis points to 5.4% With inflation remaining at ‘elevated levels’, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India unanimously decided to raise the policy repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.4%. “Inflation is projected to remain above […]
1. The coal mining protests in the Hasdeo Aranya region Why has a private member resolution against coal mining in the Hasdeo forests been passed by the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly? On July 26, the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a private member resolution urging the Centre to cancel allocation of all coal mining blocks in […]
1. Understanding the provisions for foreign visits of State government Ministers Why was Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal denied clearance to attend the World Cities Summit in Singapore? Delhi State Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has moved court with a plea to set aside the need for travel clearances by the Centre for private foreign visits […]
1. The government package to revive BSNL fortunes What are the issues that have thwarted the telecom company’s expansion and growth? Last week, the Union Cabinet approved a ₹1.64 lakh crore revival package for BSNL with a cash component of ₹43,964 crore. In March 2020, BSNL had floated a tender to procure 4G equipment to […]
1. AlphaFold: A tour de force in science How have our methods of predicting protein structures changed with AI-based tools? What does this development signify for structural biology? DeepMind, a company owned by Google, announced this week that it had predicted the three-dimensional structures of more than 200 million proteins using AlphaFold. AlphaFold is an […]
1. The need for a distinction between blasphemy and hate speech What is the history of Section 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code? How should “blasphemy” be treated in the statute as opposed to hate speech? The legality of Section 295(A) was affirmed by a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court. The court said […]
Current affairs decide a large share of marks in UPSC Prelims, Mains and the Interview, and in TNPSC exams. Every morning our faculty publish the day’s important news from The Hindu, PIB, Indian Express and other sources — explained, organised by GS paper, and linked to the syllabus.
What each daily post includes
The key news of the day, grouped by GS Paper 1, 2, 3 and 4
Background and the static syllabus topic each story connects to
