1. GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2021

The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a gazette notification stating that the provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, would be deemed to have come into effect from April 27.

About:

• The Bill amends the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991. The Act provides a framework for the functioning of the Legislative Assembly and the government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi.
• The Bill amends certain powers and responsibilities of the Legislative Assembly and the Lieutenant Governor.
• Restriction on laws passed by the Assembly: The Bill provides that the term “government” referred to in any law made by the Legislative Assembly will imply Lieutenant Governor (LG).
• Rules of Procedure of the Assembly: The Act allows the Legislative Assembly to make Rules to regulate the procedure and conduct of business in the Assembly. The Bill provides that such Rules must be consistent with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha.
• Inquiry by the Assembly into administrative decisions: The Bill prohibits the Legislative Assembly from making any rule to enable itself or its Committees to:
• consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the NCT of Delhi and
• conduct any inquiry in relation to administrative decisions.

Assent to Bills:

• The Act requires the LG to reserve certain Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly for the consideration of the President.
• The Bill requires the LG to also reserve those Bills for the President which incidentally cover any of the matters outside the purview of the powers of the Legislative Assembly.

LG’s opinion for executive actions:

• The Act specifies that all executive action by the government, whether taken on the advice of the Ministers or otherwise, must be taken in the name of the LG.
• The Bill adds that on certain matters, as specified by the LG, his opinion must be obtained before taking any executive action on the decisions of the Minister/ Council of Ministers.

Source : The Hindu

2. PYTHON-5

DRDO conducts maiden trial of Python-5 Air to Air Missile.

About:

• Tejas, India's indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, added the 5th generation Python-5 Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) in its air-to-air weapons capability on April 27, 2021.
• Trials were also aimed to validate enhanced capability of already integrated Derby Beyond Visual Range (BVR) AAM on Tejas. The test firing at Goa completed a series of missile trials to validate its performance under extremely challenging scenarios.
• Derby missile achieved direct hit on a high-speed maneuvering aerial target and the Python missiles also achieved 100% hits, thereby validating their complete capability. The trials met all their planned objectives.

Source : Indian Express

3. ASSAM’S EARTHQUAKE

After the earthquake of 6.4 magnitude on the Richter scale, Assam's Sonitpur was again struck by six tremors.

About:

• An earthquake of magnitude 2.7 on the Richter scale struck Assam's Sonitpur . The epicentre of the quake was 38 kilometres West-Northwest of Tezpur at a depth of 11 kilometres.
• The preliminary analysis shows that the events are located near to Kopili Fault closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT).
• According to NCS, the area is seismically very active falling in the highest Seismic Hazard zone V associated with collisional tectonics where Indian plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate.
• HFT, also known as the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), is a geological fault along the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Kopili Fault is a 300-km northwest-southeast trending fault from the Bhutan Himalaya to the Burmese arc.
• The historical and instrumentally recorded earthquake data (NCS catalogue) reveals that the region is affected by moderate to large earthquakes and the most prominent events among those are the July 29, 1960, Assam earthquake of magnitude 6.0.
• The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) is an office of India's Ministry of Earth Sciences. The office monitors earthquakes and conducts seismological research.
• The Seismology Division and Earthquake Risk Evaluation Centre of the India Meteorological Department merged with NCS in August 2014 to more effectively monitor and research seismological activity.

Source : Times of India

4. MY OCTOPUS TEACHER

The 85-minute documentary feature, My Octopus Teacher, which won the best documentary award at the recently concluded Academy Awards, is about the relationship that developed between a human being and a wild octopus.

About:

• My Octopus Teacher is a 2020 Netflix Original documentary film directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, which documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest.
• At the 93rd Academy Awards, it won the award for Best Documentary Feature.

Kelp forests

• Kelp forests are under water areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth.
• Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans.
• Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds that make up the order Laminariales.

Source : Indian Express

5. MAHARASHTRA’S TWO-CHILD NORM FOR GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

A woman officer from the Maharashtra Prison Department was dismissed from service after an inquiry revealed that she violated the Maharashtra Civil Services (Declaration of Small Family) rules because she suppressed the information from the authorities that she has three children.

About:

• The Maharashtra Civil Services (Declaration of Small Family) Rule of 2005 defines a small family as wife, husband and two children and stipulates that a person is not eligible for a job with Maharashtra Government if he or she has more than two children after 2005.
• Maharashtra is one of the few states in the country that have a ‘two children’ policy for appointment in government jobs or even for the elections of some local government bodies. Other states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Gujarat, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Assam being the latest addition to the list in 2019.
• The set of norms came into force in Maharashtra as Maharashtra Civil Services (Declaration of Small Family) Rules on March 28, 2005. The rules mandate filing a small family declaration at the time of applying for a government job.
• The definition of child under these rules does not include adopted children.
• The rules make the Small Family norm an additional essential requirement for Groups A, B, C, D of Maharashtra government employees.

Source : Indian Express

6. ARTICLE 217 (1)

The President of India, in exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 217 of the Constitution of India, appointed Smt. Justice Vimla Singh Kapoor, Additional Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, to be a Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, with effect from the date she assumes charge of her office.

About Article 217:

Title: Appointment and conditions of the office of a Judge of a High Court

(1) Every Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State, and, in the case of appointment of a Judge other than the chief Justice, the chief Justice of the High court, and shall hold office, in the case of an additional or acting Judge, as provided in Article 224, and in any other case, until he attains the age of sixty two years Provided that

(a) a Judge may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office

(b) a Judge may be removed from his office by the President in the manner provided in clause ( 4 ) of Article 124 for the removal of a Judge of the Supreme Court;

(c) the office of a Judge shall be vacated by his being appointed by the President to be a Judge of the Supreme Court or by his being transferred by the President to any other High Court within the territory of India

Source : PIB

7. NavIC

National Telecommunications Institute for Policy Research, Innovation and Training (NTIPRIT), the apex training institute of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India conducted a webinar on April 28, 2021 on the topic "NavlC — Opportunities for the Telecom Industry" in collaboration with ISRO and Telecom Industry.

About:

• NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system established and maintained by ISRO.
• It covers India and a region extending up to 1 ,500 km beyond Indian mainland (primary coverage area).
• It provides position accuracy better than 20 m (20) and timing accuracy better than 50 ns (20).
• The actual measurements demonstrate accuracy better than 5 m and 20 ns respectively.
• NavIC based applications are being used in various civilian sectors, including, transport, map applications, and timekeeping. Some examples for NavlC enabled mobile phones include the Redmi Note 9 series from Xiaomi, the Realme 6 series, the OnePlus Nord, etc.
• NavlC is an indigenous positioning system that is under Indian control. There is no risk of the service being withdrawn or denied in a given situation.

Source : PIB

8. AGRICULTURE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund has crossed the Rs. 8000 crore mark after receiving 8,665 applications worth Rs. 8,216 crores. The largest share of the pie is contributed by Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) (58%), agri-entrepreneurs (24%) and individual farmers (13%).

About:

• The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and credit guarantee.
• The duration of the scheme is from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years).
• Under the scheme, Rs. 1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans with interest subvention of 3% per annum and credit guarantee coverage under CGTMSE for loans up to Rs. 2 Crores.
• Eligible beneficiaries include farmers, FPOs, PACS, Marketing Cooperative Societies, SHGs, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Start-ups, and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Projects.

Source : PIB

9. MORARJI DESAI NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF YOGA

The Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga under Ayush Ministry is offering online Yoga training programmes. These online Yoga training programmes are health-promotive and anxiety-relieving.

About:

• Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga (MDNIY) is an autonomous Institution fully funded by Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
• MDNIY aims to promote deeper understanding of Yoga philosophy and practices based on classical Yoga amongst people. MDNIY is a focal Institute for Planning, Training, Promotion and Coordination of Yoga Education, Training, Therapy and Research in all its aspects.
• The Institute was started in 1970, in the form a hospital, opened by the now defunct Central Council for Research in Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy, under the Vishwayatan Yogashram.
• In 1998, the institute was further renamed as the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga with expanded mandates.

Source : All India Radio