Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2 Context: The Bihar government recently announced 33% horizontal reservation for women in State engineering and medical colleges. Horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries, such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories. Bihar at present has 60% reservation in the State higher educational institutions along with the six vertical categories (SCs, STs, EWS and so on). The newly announced reservation for women in engineering and medical seats will not be in addition to this, it will instead be distributed across all the vertical categories, including the non-reserved....Read More

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1 Context: July 30 is United Nations World Day against Trafficking in Persons. World Day against Trafficking in Persons is marked every year on July 30 to create awareness around people who are being trafficked and are taken away against their will. It helps to educate others that trafficking in persons is a crime exploiting even women and children for tragic jobs like forced labour and sex. About Human Trafficking: According to the UN- International Labour Organization (ILO)defines human trafficking is the trade of humans, most commonly for the purpose of forced labour, commercial sexual exploitation or sexual slavery for the trafficker....Read More

WHY IN THE NEWS? Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population on July 27, 2021, confirmed the detection of the mutant Kappa variant (B.1.617.1) of COVID-19’s Delta variant. Nepal had already confirmed the presence of Alpha and Delta variants in the country. What is Kappa variant (B.1.617.1)? The Kappa (B.1.617.1) and Delta (B.1.617.2) variants are the mutants of the B.1.617 variant that was earlier commonly referred to as the Double Mutant or ‘Indian variant’. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified the Kappa variant as Variant of Interest (VoI). Why were the COVID-19 variants labelled? In order to end the linkage....Read More

WHY IN THE NEWS? Mini polyhouse which is a kind of greenhouse will be built under the “Krishikarna” project, launched in Kerala, a joint initiative of the National Society for Agricultural Horticulture (SAHS), the Sustainability Foundation and Qore3 Innovations. About: Although SAHS, a government-recognized cooperative, is involved in promoting agricultural and gardening practices, the Sustainability Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Thiruvananthapuram, promotes sustainable development. Qore3 Innovations is a start-up company that claims to provide “end-to-end support” for farms. Under Krishikarna, a small polyhouse will be built on a 2.5 cent land. The total estimated cost of each plastic house....Read More

WHY IN THE NEWS? On 31st July 2021, a ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ for the distribution of assistive devices and aids to ‘Divyangjan’ will be distributed in Madhya Pradesh. About: Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) along with District Administration Chhindwara and ALIMCO will organize this ‘shivir’ under the ADIP Scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This ‘shivir’ will be organized in Chhindwara which is located in the state of Madhya Pradesh. In view of the COVID 19 pandemic, a total of 8,291 assistive devices and assistive devices worth Rs 4.32 crore will be distributed to....Read More