Bail in money laundering cases.
What is the ‘twin test’ under Prevention of Money Laundering Act(PMLA)?

The Trial court granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal but the Delhi High Court stayed the order.
Arvind Kejriwal is in jail on charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The ED challenged the order of trial court on the ground that the court had failed to apply the ‘twin test’ for granting bail under PMLA. Twin test - Section 45 of PMLA.

Section 45 of the PMLA deals with bail.

Section 45 first states that no court can grant bail for offences under this law, and then mention a few exceptions.
The Section 45 itself shows that bail is not the rule but the exception under PMLA.

These two conditions, which have to be fulfilled to grant the bail:
(i) that there are “reasonable grounds for believing that the accused is not guilty of such offence”; and
(ii) that “he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail”.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) developed a new tool called the Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network (BCNN) for forecasting El Niño and La Niña conditions.

What is El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)?
What is Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network (BCNN) launched by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)?

BCNN uses AI, deep learning, and machine learning to predict El Niño and La Niña, phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, with greater accuracy. INCOIS has created Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network(BCNN) that can forecast El Nino and La Nina events up to 15 months in advance.

BCNN improves ENSO phase forecasts using cutting-edge technology such as AI, deep learning, and machine learning (ML).

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President Droupadi Murmu appointed Bhartruhari Mahtab as the Protem Speaker of the Lok Sabha under Article 95(1) of the Constitution.
Bhartruhari Mahtab is a seven-time Member of Parliament from Cuttack.

What is a protem Speaker?
How is the pro-tem Speaker chosen?
What is the need of protem Speaker?

Bhartruhari Mahtab will perform the duties of the Speaker until the election of a new Speaker.
He switched from the BJD to the BJP before the elections. The President also appointed five other members under Article 99 of the Indian Constitution to assist the Protem Speaker in administering oaths to newly elected MPs of 18th LS.

Earlier there were murmur that senior Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh could be the pro tem speaker!

Apple Intelligence, the new AI for iPhones, iPads, and Macs
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What is Apple Intelligence?
What can Apple Intelligence do?
What about security?

Apple Intelligence is a new system that integrates AI features across Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
It will understands user behaviour and comes up with appropriate responses.
It is like ChatGPT but with more contextual awareness — it knows the user’s likes and dislikes, online preferences etc. What about security?

Apple Intelligence is backed by Private Cloud Compute.

Apple Intelligence has Contextual awareness.
Which means Siri will be aware of all your activity, and that brings to the question of privacy and security.

The world is reaching climate hell

World Meteorological Organization said, there is an 80% chance that the world will cross the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold in the next 5 years.

This May was the world's warmest May ever!

What is the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold?

In 2015, 195 countries signed the Paris Agreement to limit global temperatures to below 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. In Paris Agreement countries also pledged to curb warming within the safer 1.5 degree Celsius limit.

Why 1.5 degree Celsius?
1.5 is not an arbitrary number, but rather a point where the risks associated with global warming become considerably higher.

Here's why 1.5°C is a critical limit:

More Extreme Impacts: Compared to 2°C of warming, keeping temperatures below 1.5°C can significantly reduce the risks of extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts, floods, and intense storms.

Why Nitish Kumar (Bihar) is demanding the Special Category Status?
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What is 👓Special Category Status (SCS)?

Bihar Cabinet led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had passed a resolution last year requesting Special Category Status for the Bihar.

The demand is based on findings from the "Bihar Caste-based Survey, 2022," revealing that almost one-third of Bihar's population lives in poverty.

The Special Category Status was introduced in 1969 on the recommendation of the fifth Finance Commission (FC). Special Category Status is a classification granted by the Central government to aid the development of states facing geographical or socio-economic disadvantag.

5 factors on which special category status depends:
(i) hilly and difficult terrain
(iii) strategic location along international borders
(iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness
(v) non-viable nature of state finances

How are exit polls conducted?

How to decide which exit poll is most reliable?

Exit polls will be released tomorrow by different news agencies.

Exit polls give estimates about how people voted in an election.
Exit polls are released on the last day of voting.
Exit polls are prepared on the basis of interviews with voters just after they exit the polling stations. Exit polls are released on the last day of voting to avoid influencing voters who are yet to vote.

Many exit polls are becoming erratic in recent years.

Last year, many Exit polls estimated incorrect winners in the Legislative Assembly elections for Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

To judge the accuracy of an exit poll we have to look at the survey agency that conducted it.

We can also look at the sample size.
A common notion is that the bigger the sample size, the more reliable the poll.

Why Uttar Pradesh has given the highest number of PMs
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Why is UP an important political battleground for everyone?

Uttar Pradesh is India's most populous state, but population alone does not explain why UP has produced so many prime ministers.

Since independence, India has had 15 prime ministers, including the current one, Narendra Modi. Uttar Pradesh, constituting 17 per cent of India’s population.

Uttar Pradesh has been the birthplace of six prime ministers. Nine PMs have represented Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha.
Punjab is at second place, three Prime Ministers were born in Punjab.
Two PMs were born in Gujarat.

Maharashtra second largest populous state of India. But it has produced only one PM — Rajiv Gandhi.

Look at the tenures of the PMs.
Among all the prime ministers who were in office, 75 per cent of the time, the office was held by a prime minister who concurrently served as a Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh.

Emotional Intelligence

How to become an emotionally intelligent person?
14 Signs You’re An Emotionally Intelligent Person

Emotional Intelligence is an ability that helps a person to recognise one’s own feelings or emotional pattern and simultaneously the feelings of others too.

One learns to manage as well as understand it deeply for effective communication, decision making and minimising conflict in life. In other words, a high ‘Emotional Quotient’ (Keith Beasley used the term) person is a self-aware person. It is an ability which empowers a person to know oneself better, particularly one’s feelings, and become intelligent enough to receive others’ feelings too.

How to become an emotionally intelligent person?

a) Behavioural
Listening to others
Taking feedback
Not making hasty decisions

Severe solar storm triggers rare red-coloured aurora in Ladakh.
A rare red-coloured aurora observed at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, in Ladakh.

But why in Ladakh?
What are auroras?
Why do auroras occur?
What are northern and southern lights?

The northern and southern lights are also known as auroras. Auroras are natural light displays in sky of high-latitude regions. What are auroras?

Auroras are natural light that can be seen in the night sky of high-latitude regions. Auroras can be seen in a range of colours, including blue, red, yellow, green, and orange.

Auroras primarily appear near the poles of both the northern and southern hemispheres all year round.

But sometimes Auroras can be seen to lower latitudes.

If Auroras appear in the northern hemisphere, its display is called the aurora borealis.
And in the southern hemisphere, it is known as the aurora australis.

Kerala has banned oleander flowers in temple offerings.

But Why?

A woman from Kerala died after accidentally chewing leaves of the oleander plant. Locally oleander is known as ‘arali’.
Know about the pretty but poisonous plants.

What is oleander?
How toxic is oleander?
How is oleander used in traditional medicine? Oleander is cultivated across the world as a decorative flower.

Two Kerala government-controlled temple boards have banned use of oleander flowers. Both temple boards together manage 2,500-odd temples in the Kerala.

Oleander is a plant cultivated worldwide in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions.
Known for its drought tolerance, the Oleander is used for ornamental purposes.
In Kerala, the Oleander is known by the names of arali and kanaveeram.

History of Iranian-Israeli conflict
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(i) Pre-1979 Iran-Israel ties
(ii) The 1979 Revolution
(iii) A Shadow War after 1979

In 1948, the opposition of Arab states to Israel led to the first Arab-Israeli war. Iran was not a part of that conflict, and after Israel won, Iran established ties with the Israel. Iran was the second Muslim-majority country to do so after Turkey. 

Israel tried to counter the hostility of Arab states at the time with the “periphery doctrine” under its first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.

Iran was one of the first countries in the region to recognise Israel after its formation in 1948. It was only after 1979 that their diplomatic ties ended.

(ii) The 1979 Revolution:
In this phase, a religious state was established in Iran after the Shah was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

CBI will issue a Blue Corner notice of Interpol against Prajwal Revanna. He fled to Germany on a diplomatic passport after allegations of sexual abuse.

What is Blue Corner notice?
Will a Blue Corner notice bring Prajwal Revanna back?

Blue Corner notice is a part of Interpol colour-coded notices. Blue Corner notice enable countries to share alerts and information on wanted persons. Colour-coded notices of Interpol

There are seven types of notices —
Red Notice
Yellow Notice
Blue Notice
Black Notice
Green Notice
Orange Notice
Purple Notice.

Each Notice has a different implication.

Red Notice: To seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.

Yellow Notice: To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.

Decoding Indian Railways
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DEMU?
EMU?
MEMU? DEMU Train
Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains have integrated engines except that they are diesel-based. It was introduced to replace the slower loco-hauled passenger trains in non-electrified rail sections.

The Mango Map of India
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Important commercial varieties and where they are grown

India-China Border: From Historic Agreements to the Current Crisis
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Current Crisis
Ambiguity in LAC
Origins of LAC Dispute

Thirty years ago, after the 1962 war, India & China reached the historic Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement (BPTA) in September during Prime Minister Narasimha Rao's visit to China. The BPTA committed both sides to respecting the status quo and minimizing the risk of unplanned confrontations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

For two decades, the BPTA and subsequent agreements maintained peace on the longest undemarcated border globally.

The limited nature of the BPTA led to an infrastructure race, causing more incidents since 2013 and culminating in the deadly Galwan clash in June 2020. Both countries escalated infrastructure development in forward areas and increased the frequency of patrols, leading to more frequent encounters and rising tensions.

Both countries agreed not to use or threaten force, respect the LAC, keep minimal military forces along the LAC, and reduce forces as mutually agreed.

‘Vision of New India by 2030’ - Marine Resources

- Efforts taken by the government for the conservation of resources of the Indian coastline.

India’s coastal and marine habitats include mangroves, coral reefs, sea grasses, salt marshes, mud flats, estuaries, lagoons, and diverse flora and fauna.

However, despite their ecological importance and significance to the national economy, these resources have not received proper protection and are under threat.

The World Bank-financed Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project, part of the national coastal zone management programme, aims to strike a balance between development and the protection of sensitive ecosystems. ‘Vision of New India by 2030’

(a) A manned submersible will be developed to carry three people to a depth of 6,000 metres in the ocean with suite of scientific sensors and tools to explore deep sea mining possibilities.

(b) An Integrated Mining System will be developed for mining Polymetallic Nodules from 6,000-m depth in the central Indian Ocean.

(c) Bio-prospecting of deep-sea flora and fauna including microbes and studies on sustainable utilization of deep-sea bio-resources will also be undertaken with the aim of studying, documenting and conservation of deep-sea ecology.

Many aquatic species are legally protected under India’s Wild Life Protection Act of 1972. India has 31 significant Marine Protected Areas that span coastal areas and were established under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

The National Committee on Mangroves, Wetlands, and Coral Reefs, established in 1993, advises the government on marine species-related policies and activities.

How 17th Lok Sabha performed
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One-third of Bills passed in 1 hour
Record suspensions
Lengthy interruptions
Referred 16% of Bills to standing committees for scrutiny

In Article 107 of the Constitution of India, there is a provision to introduction and passing of Bills. Productivity
Since the first Lok Sabha convened between 1952 and 1957, the number of sittings has consistently declined over the years.
While the first Lok Sabha convened for an annual average of 135 days across all sessions, the 16th and 17th Lok Sabhas (of the NDA government) met for 66 and 55 days per year.

India’s first Dark Sky Reserve: Hanle Dark Sky Reserve - Astronomy tourism
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What is a Dark Sky Reserve?
How does a site become a ‘Dark Sky Reserve’?
Who is developing India’s first Dark Sky Reserve?
Why was Ladakh chosen for the project?

India's first Dark Sky Reserve is the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, located in the Eastern Ladakh region. The Hanle Dark Sky Reserve is situated within the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary. What is a Dark Sky Reserve?

A Dark Sky Reserve (DSP) is a designated area, often surrounding an existing park or observatory, that commits to protecting and preserving its natural nighttime environment from artificial light pollution.

These reserves consist of a core area meeting minimum criteria for sky quality and natural darkness, and a peripheral area that supports dark sky preservation in the core.

Purpose:
Astronomical Research
Conservation of Nocturnal Ecosystems
Cultural Heritage
Education and Public Enjoyment

House Motions - Motion in Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha
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Types of Motions in Parliament of India

A motion is a formal proposal submitted by a member of a deliberative assembly (like a parliament or legislature) to initiate discussion and potentially take action on a specific matter. Motions can be classified under the following categories:
(i) Substantive Motions
(ii) Substitute Motions
(iii) Subsidiary Motions

A debate on a motion involves three stages —
1. making of a motion;
2. proposing of a question;
3. a vote on the question.

Members who wish to pass the motion in a different form must move amendments after the original motion has been proposed.

India's first indigenous fast breeder reactor(FBR) begins 'core loading' at Kalpakkam Tamil Nadu

What is Fast Breeder Reactor(FBR)?
How Fast Breeder Reactor Work?
Why is this important for India?

Once commissioned, India will be the second country after Russia to have a commercial operating FBR. China has a small programme on fast breeders; programmes in countries such as Japan, France, and the United States were shut down amid safety concerns. What are Fast Breeder Reactors?

Specialized Nuclear Reactors: Fast breeder reactors are a type of nuclear reactor that operate using fast neutrons (neutrons that haven't been slowed down by a moderator).

Breeding Fuel: They have the unique capability to "breed" more fissile material than they consume. In practice, this means they produce more plutonium (a nuclear fuel) than they use up.

Potential for Thorium: While most FBRs focus on plutonium, they hold the potential to use thorium as the fuel source, which is much more abundant than uranium.

Why Do They Matter?

Fuel Efficiency: FBRs drastically improve the utilization of nuclear fuel resources, potentially providing energy for centuries.
Reduced Waste: They can help minimize the amount of long-lived radioactive waste.
Thorium Power: FBRs are key to unlocking the potential of abundant thorium reserves, particularly important for countries like India.