Latest News
EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
09th Nov 2021
NAVY ESPIONAGE CASE: CBI FILES CHARGE SHEET AGAINST 4 ACCUSED; RS 2 CRORES SEIZED
Recently, The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed two chargesheets against naval officers, for sharing details of the ongoing modernization project of India’s Kilo Class submarines.
Submarines in India:
- India has 15 conventional diesel-electric submarines, classified as SSKs, and one nuclear ballistic submarine, classified as SSBN.
- The Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN.
- SSBN:SS denotes submarine (or submersible ship), the B denotes ballistic missile, and the N denotes that the submarine is nuclear powered.
- SSK: SS indicated that the vessel was a submarine, and the K suffix that it was a hunter-killer.
- Shishumar class vessels:
- India has 4 such vessels.
- They were bought and then built in India in collaboration with the Germans starting 1980s.
- Kilo class diesel-electric submarines (Sindhughosh class):
- India has 8 such sub-marines.
- They were bought from Russia between 1984 and 2000.
- Kalvari Class:
- India has 3 Kalvari Class submarines (Kalvari, Khanderi and Karanj) in service and two such submaines is under- construction (Vela and Vagir).
- INS Kalvari is the first of the six Scorpene class submarines built under Project 75.
- They are built at India’s Mazagon Dock in partnership with France’s Naval Group.
- Arihant Class
- INS Arihant is a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), built indigenously.
- A second SSBN, INS Arighat, an upgraded version of Arihant, is likely to be commissioned within the next few months.
- India is among six nations that have SSNs, alongside the US, UK, Russia, France, and China.
- India got its first SSN in 1987 from the Soviet Navy, which was decommissioned in 1991.
- In 2012, India got another Russian SSN on a ten-year lease, called INS Chakra 2, which has been returned to Russia.
- India is taking two SSNs on lease from Russia, the first of them is expected to be delivered by 2025.
- India is building at least two larger SSBNs that will have bigger missiles, called S4 and S4* projects. The SSBNs are expected to be commissioned before 2030.
- Kaho is a small village on the banks of Lohit River on the India-China LAC in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.
- The village has an Indian Army check-post.
- As per constitution of India, Kaho village is administrated by Sarpanch, who is elected representative of village.
- There is a monastery for the local Buddhist population.
- Kaho is inhabited by the Meyor community who are Buddhists by faith.
- According to the 2011 census, it has a total population of 65 residents and a literacy rate of 64.15 percent.
- The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honors of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.
- The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year.
- The nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.
- Padma Awards were first instituted in the year 1954.
- Padma awards have been given every year except 1978 and 1979 and 1993 to 1997.
- The award is given in three categories
- Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service
- Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order
- Padma Shri for distinguished service.
- The awards seek to recognise achievement “in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved".
- The awards are conferred by the President, usually in the month of March/April.
- Any citizen of India irrespective of race, occupation, position, or sex is eligible for these awards.
- Government servants, including those working with PSUs, are not eligible for these awards although an exception has been made for doctors and scientists.
- Awardees can be chosen from any field like the arts, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature, and sport, etc.
- The total number of Padma awards to be conferred each year is limited to 120.
- The awards come with no cash prize.
- The recipients get a certificate signed by the President and a medallion.
- The winners are given a small replica of the medallion, “which they can wear during any ceremonial/state functions.
- The names of the awardees are published in the Gazette of India on the day of the presentation ceremony.
- The award does not represent a title that can be used as a suffix or prefix to the awardees’ name.
- It is located 92 km south of Kolkata in the Sundarbans Delta complex of the Bay of Bengal.
- Every year, with houses and acres of land being swallowed by the sea, the topography of the island alters.
- The rapid erosion of the island, has grabbed the attention of those attempting to understand how rising sea levels and climate change are impacting lives and migration patterns.
- Swarnajayanti Fellowship scheme was instituted by Government of India to commemorate India’s fiftieth year of Independence.
- Under the scheme, the awardees are facilitated by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), with support for all the requirements for performing the research including a fellowship of Rs. 25,000/- per month for five years.
- DST supports the awardees by giving them a research grant of 5 lakh Rupees for 5 years.
- The prize is divided into six disciplines, namely:
- Chemical Sciences
- Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
- Engineering Sciences
- Mathematical Sciences
- Life Science
- Physical Sciences
- A session of Parliament is the period spanning between the first sitting of a House and its prorogation (or dissolution in the case of the Lok Sabha).
- The Indian Parliament consists of two houses called the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
- The time between the Prorogation and reassembly is called “Recess”.
- The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution.
- It is based on a provision of the Government of India Act, 1935.
- The maximum time gap between two sessions of the parliament is 6 months.
- This means that the parliament must meet twice a year.
- India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. But by convention, Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
- The decision to convene the parliament is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
- The decision of the Committee is then formalised by the Presidentand MPs (members of parliaments) are summoned in the name of the President.
- The Budget Session (February to May);
- The Monsoon Session (July to September);
- The Winter Session (November to December).
- It is considered to be a highly crucial session of the Parliament.
- It is held from February to May every year.
- It is the longest session.
- The session starts with the President’s Address to both Houses.
- The budget session is generally split into two periods with a gap of one month between them.
- During this period:
- Budget is presented on the last working day of the month of February by finance minister.
- Budget comes before Parliament for its deliberation, voting and approval.
- The departmentally related standing committees consider the Demands for Grants of ministries/departmentsand report on the same to the Houses of Parliament.
- It is held from July to September every year.
- In this session, matters of public interest are discussed.
- It is the shortest session of all.
- It takes place in mid-November to mid-December every year.
- Declaration of maximum retail price (MRP) on pre packed commodities in Indian currency inclusive of all taxes and date of manufacture are mandatory.
- Provisions of declarations of MRP has been simplified.
- Earlier such declarations could be denoted as ‘N’ or ‘U’ only.
- Now, the quantities can be expressed in terms of the number/unit/piece which represents the quantity in the package.
- New amendment will be applicable from April 2022.
- To safeguard interest of consumers.
- Easier comparison of the prices of the commodities at the time of purchase.
- Reduces the compliance burden for manufacturer.
- Legal Metrology is the application of legal requirements to measurements and measuring instruments.
- Objective- To ensure public guarantee from the point of view of security and accuracy of the weighments and measurements.
- It is framed to regulate the pre-packaged commodities.
- It is prescribed under the Legal Metrology Act, 2009
- Contribution to the economy of the country by increasing the revenue in various sectors.
- Reducing the revenue losses in the coal, mines, industries, petroleum, railways.
- Reduction of the loss and wastage in the infrastructure sector.
- It is constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
- Aim: to provide free legal services to weaker sections of society.
- Objective: to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reasons of economic or other disabilities.
- Location- New Delhi.
- Official newsletter of NALSA- Nyaya Deep.
- Patron-in-Chief- the Chief Justice of India
- Executive-Chairman- Second senior-most judge of Supreme Court of India
- The Legal Services Authorities Act establishes statutory legal services authorities at the National, State and District level.
- Organise Lok Adalats for settlement of disputes.
- Formulates various schemes for the implementation of preventive and strategic legal service programmes.
- Provide free legal aid in civil and criminal matters.
- Legal aid means free legal service for the promotion of the welfare of the people.
- Article 39 A of the Constitution of India provides for free legal aid to the poor and weaker sections of the society.
- Right to free legal aid is a Fundamental Right guaranteed by the Constitution under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- Article 21:No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
- member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe;
- a victim of trafficking in human beings or beggar;
- a woman or child;
- a person with disability as defined in clause (i) of section 2 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Right and Full Participation) Act, 1995
- a victim of mass disaster
- an industrial workman;
- persons in custody, including in a protective home, juvenile home, or psychiatric hospital or nursing home;
- a person whose annual income does not exceed Rs.50,000/-
- Lack of awareness of the availability of legal aid;
- A perception that free service is incompatible with quality service;
- There are not enough lawyers delivered by the legal services authorities
- The lawyers are uninterested in providing competent legal assistance because of financial constraints.
POSTED ON 09-11-2021 BY ADMIN
Next previous 
General Studies
Political Science and International Relations
Some Reference Essays
List of previous year essay topics (1997-2019)
IAS GOOGLE is googled by the team of Raja Sir’s Cracking IAS Academy. Sources include The Hindu, Indian Express, pib.nic.in, Down To Earth, Economic Times, Vigyan Prasar, AIR and the like. IAS GOOGLE has been prepared in pace with emerging UPSC Trends.