6 April 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Panel sets stage for Maratha quota: Share in Govt jobs falling, girl-child marriage uptick
(Page no-1)
(GS Paper 2- Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the population)
- It said total representation of Marathas in government services had decreased by over 5 percentage points from 14.63 percent in 2018 to 9 percent in 2024.
- In 2014, the Narayan Rane Committee (which was not a statutory commission) had recorded 14.68 per cent representation of Marathas in government services.
Pin code MH-1718: In Antarctica a post office with Indian address
(Page no-1)
(GS Paper 3- Science & Technology)
- The impression, 'Maitri North Goa', from the Antarctic research base is a famed “collector's item”.
- Almost four decades later, letters meant for Antarctica will now have a new PIN code, MH-1718, with the Department of Posts opening a second branch of the post office on Bharati research station in Antarctica.
Supply of fake currency notes threat to national security: High Court
(Page no-3)
(GS Paper 3-Money-Laundering and its prevention)
- While denying bail to a man accused of supplying fake currency notes, the Delhi High Court recently said that the “the supply and circulation of fake currency notes represent a serious threat to the economy, national security, and individual well-being”.
Climate, clean-tech among main drivers of Australia-India enhanced ties: Official
(Page no-8)
(GS Paper 2- Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings)
- Cooperation on climate change and clean energy technologies is fast emerging as one of the key pillars of an upgraded economic partnership that India and Australia are seeking to forge, Australia's Ambassador for Climate Change Kristin Tilley said in an interview.
The green hydrogen push
(Page no-9)
(GS Paper 1-Distribution of Key Natural Resources across the world)
- India has set its sights on becoming energy-independent by 2047 and achieving Net Zero by 2070.
- To achieve this target, increasing renewable energy use across all economic spheres is key and green hydrogen is considered a promising alternative for enabling this energy transition.
- The National Green Hydrogen Mission, which was approved by the Union Cabinet in January 2022, targets the development of at least 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) per annum of green hydrogen production capacity.
Bengaluru and Cape Town: A tale of two cities hit by water scarcity
(Page no-9)
(GS Paper 1-geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features)
- With Bengaluru facing severe water shortage, many have compared the city’s predicament to Cape Town’s in 2015-18.
- Dr T V Ramachandra, Coordinator, Energy and Wetlands Research Group in Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science, was asked about this comparison in a recent interview with The Indian Express.
- He noted that if the city continues to “mismanage” its water supply, it can soon face a situation worse than South Africa’s legislative capital a few years ago.
Calling China's bluff
(Page no-11)
(GS Paper 2- India and its Neighborhood- Relations)
- When news of China renaming some geographical entities in Arunachal Pradesh broke in December 2021, some social media enthusiasts took a “tit for tat” approach.
- They gave Indian names to Chinese and Tibetan cities. Beijing was called Bhujang Nagar and Lhasa became Laxmangarh.
- They also referred to Shanghai as Sanghipur, Nanjing as Nandigarh, Yunan as Yananapuram, Chengdu as New Chandigarh, Hubei as Hanumangarh and Guangzhou as Gandhinagar.
Over Rupees 2 lakh cr GST evasion in FY24, almost 10% of collections
(Page no-15)
(GS Paper 3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning)
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities are learnt to have detected evasion of around Rs 2.01 lakh crore in 2023-24 — an amount equal to almost 10% of the total GST collected during the financial year.
- The all-time high level of detection of GST evasion cases in FY24 came even as gross GST collections recorded a 11.6% increase from the previous financial year to Rs 20.18 lakh crore.
China may use Al content to influence Lok Sabha polls: Microsoft
(Page no-15)
(GS 3- Role of Media and Social Networking Sites in Internal Security Challenges)
- China will use content generated through artificial intelligence (AI) to try and disrupt upcoming Lok Sabha polls in India, along with other elections happening in countries like the United States and South Korea, a report released by Microsoft Friday said.
