Facts In News

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    Modern History

    Acharya Vinoba Bhave

    Syllabus : GS 1/Personalities

    In News

    • The Prime Minister paid tribute to Vinoba Bhave on his birth anniversary.

    About 

    • Vinayak Narahari Bhave was born in 1895 in a high-caste Brahman family.
    • He abandoned his high school studies in 1916 to join Gandhi’s ashram (ascetic community) at Sabarmati, near Ahmedabad. 
      • Gandhi’s teachings led Bhave to a life of austerity dedicated to improving Indian village life. 
    • He was one of India’s best-known social reformers and a widely venerated disciple of Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi. 
    • He was given the honorific title acharya (“teacher”).
    • In 1982, Bhave fell extremely ill and stopped taking food and medicines. He died on 15 November 1982.

     

                                                                 Image Courtesy:mkgandhi.org

    Contribution 

    • His writings and teachings revolutionised Sarvodaya social order, one that emphasised the importance of non-violence, goodwill and equality in society.
    • He was the founder of the Bhoodan Movement(“Land-Gift Movement”).
      • He  dedicated his life to propagating Gandhian values and is particularly known for “Bhoodan” 
    • His mass movements were aimed at ensuring a better quality of life for the poor and downtrodden.
    •  His emphasis on collective spirit will always continue to inspire generations

    Awards and Honours 

    • In 1958, he received the first Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, for his dedication to the “propagation of a new kind of social revolution in India”.
    • He was awarded India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1983.
    •  The same year, the Government of India also released a postage stamp in his honour. 

    Bhoodan Movement

    • The Bhoodan Movement was started by Vinoba Bhave in April 1951.. 
    • He persuaded people across the country to donate a part of their land that he distributed among the landless poor.
    • Over the next two decades, the movement took the shape of a law called the Bhoodan Act and put the government in charge of distributing land from the land bank. 
    • The movement later transformed into the Gramdan (village in gift) movement, under which the whole or a major part of village land was donated by not less than 75 percent of the residents for equal distribution among all village residents. 
    • Tribal areas, currently under vigorous land acquisition, were major participants in the Gramdan movement. Both the movements died eventually but left behind the land bank.

     

    Source: TH

     

    Defence

    Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk2

    Syllabus : GS 3/Defence

    In News 

    • The configuration for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk2  and Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) has been frozen.  The first flight is expected to be ready by 2023.
    • In February 2021 the Defence Ministry signed a ?48,000-crore deal with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) to supply 83 LCA-Mk1A to the Indian Air Force. 

    About Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk2

    • The aircraft features enhanced range and endurance including an onboard oxygen generation system, which is being integrated for the first time
    • Heavy weapons of the class of Scalp, Crystal Maze and Spice-2000 will also be integrated on the Mk2. 
    • The LCA-Mk2 will be a heavier and much more capable aircraft than the current LCA variants.
    • The Mk2 is 1,350 mm longer featuring canards and can carry a payload of 6,500 kg compared to the 3,500 kg the LCA can carry.

    Image Courtesy: HT

    Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)

    • The initial design of the AMCA was started way back in 2009.
    •  It would be a twin-engine stealth aircraft with an internal weapons bay and a diverterless supersonic intake, which has been developed for the first time for which the design is complete.
    • It will be a 25-tonne aircraft with an internal carriage of 1,500 kg of payload and a 5,500-kg external payload with 6,500 kg of internal fuel.
    • The AMCA will have stealth and non-stealth configuration and will be developed in two phases
      •  AMCA Mk1 with existing GE414 engine and an AMCA Mk2 with an advanced, more powerful engine to be developed later along with a foreign partner

    Light Combat Aircrafts (LCA) ‘Tejas’ Mk-1A Variant

    • LCA Tejas Mk 1A is an advanced version of LCA Mk1.
    • It is a supersonic fighter at all altitudes for air combat which can carry a payload of 3,500 kg and it is best suited for offensive air support.
    • This aircraft is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile etc.

     

    Source: TH

     

    Polity and Governance

    National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

    Syllabus:GS 2/Statutory, Regulatory & Various Quasi-judicial Bodies

    In News 

    • Recently, the government has appointed 31 people as judicial, technical and accountant members at the NCLT and the ITAT, amid the Supreme Court flagging concerns about vacancies in various tribunals.

    About 

    • NCLT
      • The Central Government has constituted National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under section 408 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) w.e.f. 01st June 2016.
      • It is a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues relating to Indian companies. 
      • Decisions of the NCLT may be appealed at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). The NCLAT decisions can be challenged at the Supreme Court on a point of law. 
    • ITAT
      • ITAT is a quasi-judicial institution set up in January 1941 and specializes in dealing with appeals under the Direct Taxes Acts. 
      • The orders passed by the ITAT are final, an appeal lies to the High Court only if a substantial question of law arises for determination.
      • It was started in 1941 with six Members constituting three Benches – one each at Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta) and Mumbai (Bombay), the numbers of Benches have progressively increased and presently ITAT has 63 Benches at 27 different stations covering almost all the cities having a seat of the High Court.
    • Difference between NCLT and ITAT
    • The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) deals with matters mainly related to companies law and insolvency law while the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) deals with income tax matters.

    Source: TH

     

    Health

    Saline Gargle RT-PCR Technology

    Syllabus: GS2/Health

    In News

    Need

    • This would result in faster testing, especially in resource-poor regions like rural and tribal areas.

    About Saline Gargle RT-PCR Technology

    • The Saline Gargle RT-PCR technology is simple, fast, cost-effective, patient-friendly, and comfortable.
    • It provides instant test results and is well-suited for rural and tribal areas, given minimal infrastructure requirements. 
    • Working:
      • The patient has to gargle the solution and rinse it in the tube.
      • The sample is taken to the laboratory where it is kept at room temperature for about 30 minutes in a special buffer solution prepared by NEERI.
      • An RNA template is produced when this solution is heated and then processed for RT-PCR.

     

    Source: HT

     

    Art & Culture

    Samvatsari Parva 2021

    Syllabus: GS1/ Ancient History

    In News

    • Recently, the Prime Minister has greeted the people on the occasion of Samvatsari.

    About Samvatsari

    • It is the annual festival marked by people of the Jain community.
    • This festival is celebrated on the last day of ‘Parva Paryushana’ which is the holiest festival for the Shwetambara sect of Jainism.
    • It falls on Shukla Panchami each year in the Jain calendar month of Bhadrapada (somewhere between the middle of August and September in the Gregorian calendar).
    • Samvatsari is also known as the Day of Forgiveness.
    • On this day, Jains beg forgiveness from all living beings for faults they have made, whether deliberately or unknowingly. 

     

    Source: PIB

     

    Geography

    Subansiri Hydroelectric Project (LSHP)

    Syllabus: GS3/ Infrastructure/ GS1, Geography

    In News

    • Work on the 2000 MW Subansiri Lower project resumed after being stopped in 2011 following protests amid fears of ecological damage and loss of livelihoods.

    Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (SLHEP)

    • It is located on the Subansiri River ( largest tributary of Brahmaputra River), which is on the border of India’s two northeastern states, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
    • Subansiri River (gold river), originates in the Tibet Plateau and enters India through Miri hills in Arunachal Pradesh.
    • River Subansiri flows from Arunachal Pradesh into Assam where it joins the Brahmaputra.
    • The project is being developed by the state-run National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC).

    Image Courtesy: researchgate

     

    Source: TH

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