The Revision Channel

  The world is stuck with a pandemic that started two years ago. Just when we thought that it was nearing the end, with the advent of vaccines, another wave has hit us. We don't see major lockdowns now because economies cannot afford another one, but, the disease is spreading like wildfire with more than million cases a day and thousands of deaths across the world, thanks to the new variants.  Omicron is the latest threat. We got lucky this time because it isn't as severe as the other variants but its infection rate is four times faster than that of the original n-CoV, and two times faster than that of the Delta variant. However this might not be the case for future variants. New variants that emerge might get weaker and affect lives less, or it can get stronger and bypass our immunity to infect us badly.  With new variants emerging time and again, when is this pandemic going to end? Will life become normal again?  coronavirus - from WHO website These questions are the biggest

  What is a 'bad bank'? It is a financial entity set up to acquire NPAs from banks & resolve them The bank, which sells the stressed assets to the bad banks, is now relieved of the burden of the bad loans & can instead focus on growing its business by advancing fresh loans to borrowers requiring credit A bad bank is also called NARCL = National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. Is bad banks the way forward for improving banking sector in India? Yes, if they combine recapitalisation with asset segregation then bad bank segregations are effective in cleaning up balance sheets & promoting bank lending, according to Jan 2020 BIS working paper (BIS = Bank for International Settlements) Critics of bad banks government's role in guaranteeing some part of NPAs could lead to laxity on the part of bankers in assessing risk & thus creating fresh dodgy loans How will NARCL operate? the bad bank will acquire assets by making an offer to the lead bank of a group of lender

E stimating the excess deaths To get the number of deaths from all causes in a defined time period and compare it with the same time period of the previous years. (Time period = specific months or a year) "Excess" death are all deaths beyond what is considered "normal" for that area and time; during a disaster(pandemic-covid) excess deaths are attributed to direct/indirect causes of the disaster It is an indirect approach  The difference between actual mortality rate and the expected death rate gives an estimate of the Covid toll Causes of deaths when 'excess deaths' were estimated were - Deaths due to Covid infections Deaths due to delayed or deferred healthcare Mental health disorders, alcohol/drug use Fatalities among chronically ills with cardiovascular or respiratory ailments who succumbed to Covid instead of their other chronic medical conditions Lower fatalities due to accidents (as a result of lockdowns - not many people went out) Lower fatalities du

  Cryptocurrency A fully decentralised, peer-to-peer electronic cash system that does not need the purview of any third-party financial institution.  It started with Bitcoin which was created by   Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 as a response to  the lack of trust in the existing banking system during the 2008 global financial crisis. PROS CONS tamper-proof ledgers volatility and fluctuations verification of transactions and contracts isn’t backed up by a sovereign state and a public institution like a central bank (RBI) updating and maintenance of records   poses a threat to financial stability Integrating blockchain technology into financial sector would help increase savings worth billions of dollars These tasks of blockchain technology are usually done by financial institutions/banks which take a fee for their service. At the moment, intermediaries (including banks, credit card and payment gateways) draw almost 3 per cent from the total global economic output of over $100 trillion, as fee

  Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oil What? Multi-pronged strategy for oilseeds production Plan for the free distribution of mini-kits of high-yielding varieties of seeds to farmers for 2021 kharif season Through consultations between Central and State governments, strategy for both - area & productivity enhancement has been formulated for soybean & groundnut under NFSM (Oilseeds & Oil Palm) inter-cropping distribution of seeds in high potential districts distribution of mini-kits distribution of high-yielding/high quality seeds Why? To achieve self-sufficiency in the production of oilseeds To enhance the productivity of oilseeds by increasing the availability of high yielding varieties of seeds National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP) Launched in 2014-15 It is merged with NFSM (National Food Security Mission) since 2018-19     Multi pronged Strategy: Increasing Seed Replacement Ratio (SRR) in oil crops with focus

  Why in News? New administrator who took charge (Praful Khoda Patel) proposed new draft legislations that have wide-ranging impact. In this article, we shall look into those legislations and the controversy surrounding it. But before that, let's understand the geography, ethinicity, people and the administration of Lakshadweep. Geography 36 Islands 4 newly formed 5 submerged reefs 17 Uninhabited islands 10 islands inhabited - Kavaratti Agatti Amini Kadmat Kitan Chetlat Bitra Andrott Kalpeni Minicoy out of 36 islands, 1 island sank under sea, namely, Parali I (so currently, there are 35 islands) 3 main GROUP of Island Amindivi Islands - northernmost Laccadive Islands Minicoy Island - southernmost Climate warm & humid climate S.W. monsoon 9 degree channel Separates rest of Lakshadweep & Minicoy Atoll islands   - ring shaped coral reef island ( how it is formed? ) Sea mountain - formed by underwater volcanic eruptions where lava piles up on sea floor, elevation grows higher.

Over the past few decades, India has been a victim of environmental degradation and climate change events. Be it the high levels of pollution in Delhi, cloud burst in Kedarnath, severe floods in Bihar, Kerala and Assam, increasing intensity of cyclone in Coastal Andhra and Tamil Nadu and even water scarcity that we see in several regions of India- all of these are a result of increasing industrial activities and climate change in India. All these events have caused huge losses in terms of human deaths and economy. The worst hit sector is the agriculture sector which is heavily dependent on monsoons in India. Hence, there is a need for us to analyze the cause of such extreme events and be prepared to manage, mitigate and even adapt to such extreme climate events in India to reduce risk and losses.  This article is a summary of a report released by Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) called "Preparing India for Extreme Climate Events". Report: Preparing India for Ex

5th generation mobile network, also called 5G, will prove to be much faster than the current 4G networks, with negligible response delay. The peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2 to 20 Gigabits per second or Gbps. At present 4G is giving us 6 to 7 Mbps in India which is sufficient for playing online games, browsing the internet and streaming netflix. 5G is expected to help build newer, emerging technologies such as IOT and machine-to-machine interactions giving rise to Industrial Revolution 4.0. Some countries such as South Korea and the U.S. have already begun rolling out commercial 5G services. But there are a certain challenges delaying the enrollment of 5G in India. Before going to the challenges, we must know what opportunities we are missing out by delaying 5G in India WHY INDIA NEEDS 5G? According to a government-appointed panel, 5G is expected to create a cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion in India by 2035. According to another report by Ericsson

Borrowed from the Irish Constitution, Directive Principles of State Policy are enshrined in Part IV of the Indian Constitution from Articles 36 to  51. These principles act as a  guide or instructions to the government while making laws . They are  fundamental in governance of the country  and direct the path  towards a welfare state . What are these Principles? How are they classified? How are they enforced? Why do we need them? Do they suplement or contradict Fundamental Rights? And, are they perfect? Let's see. WHAT ARE THE DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY (DPSPs)? As mentioned, these directives are the guidelines for the State to be kept in view while framing laws. They are the goals of the government to be fulfilled over a period of time for the welfare of the people. While the Fundamental Rights enshrined in Part III of the Constitution help in achieving political democracy, DPSPs help in achieving social and economic democracy. Together they help in achieving "JUSTI

It is impossible for a beggar on the streets to get educated and therefore a good employment in the future. His dreams of living in a decent house are shattered, in fact it's a big achievement for him to get at least one square meal a day. Dr APJ Abdul Kalam once said "In a democracy the well-being, individuality and happiness of every citizen is important for the overall prosperity, peace and happiness of a nation." Thus, we have to end poverty of all forms to ensure prosperity.  Poverty has been, and still is, the biggest challenge to mankind. To overcome this challenge, we must delve deep into the subject and understand the root cause of poverty. For this we must first understand its definition. According to the Human Development Report of 1997, poverty can be viewed as denial of opportunities to lead a long, healthy, creative life, and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-respect and the respect of others. Since one can interpret the meaning

The rapid rate of climate change has become a major global concern over the past several decades. Human activities are attributed as the major cause for this rapid pace. This change is impacting the ecosystem in a bad way. Due to this, a number of plant and animal species have gone extinct and many more are on the verge of becoming extinct.  Climate change is also affecting humans in a huge way. Disease-causing microbes such as  bacteria  dwell in w armer climates.  People living near the coasts are facing the brunt of climate change in the form of flooding and depletion of coastlines, many small islands such as the Maldives are sinking, irregular monsoons is leading to either extreme drought-like conditions or huge floods which is affecting agriculture and livelihood of many people. These are just some of the many examples.  The IPCC has warned of dire consequences due to the threat of climate change in "The Special Report of Global Warming of  1.5 °C "   if the world does