These current affairs are written in a easy to remember format and are useful for competitive exams like - UPSC Civil Services, UPPSC, BPSC, MPPPSC, State PSCs and other competitive examinations.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)
Stan Swamy, has filed a fresh criminal petition before the Bombay High Court challenging the constitutional validity of a section under the UAPA that creates a hurdle for an accused to be granted bail.
The section explains "no person accused of an offence punishable under Chapters IV (punishment for terrorist activities) and VI (forteiture of proceeds of terrorism or any property intended to be used for terrorism) of this Act shall, if in custody, be released on bail or on his own bond".
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is aimed at prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.
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Polity
What is "Poshan Abhiyaan" ?
Anganwadi workers are up in arms after a government order threatened them with a pay cut if they did not download the government's mobile application called Poshan Tracker to record delivery of services.
The National Nutrition Mission (Poshan Abhiyaan) was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) in 2018 as government's flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
POSHAN tracker App was launched in March 2021 by Women and Child Development Ministry to strengthen and bring transparency in nutrition delivery services and real-time monitoring of nutritional outcomes.
Read More: Poshan Abhiyaanx
Gov. Schemes
Gravitational waves detected from collision of neutron star and black hole
Scientists have for the first time detected gravitational waves - ripples in the fabric of space-time - produced by the collision of a neutron star and a black hole.
It confirms that there are binary systems consisting of neutron star and black hole and will help answer many questions about star formation and expansion rate of our universe.
The reverberations from the two celestial objects were picked up using the Advanced LIGO detector in Louisiana, US and the Advanced Virgo detector in Italy.
Gravitational waves are produced when celestial objects collide and the ensuing energy creates ripples in the fabric of space-time which carry all the way to detectors on Earth.
Neutron star
A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star, which had a total mass of between 10 and 25 solar masses, possibly more if the star was especially metal-rich.Except for black holes, and some hypothetical objects (e.g. white holes, quark stars, and strange stars), neutron stars are the smallest and densest currently known class of stellar objects.
They result from the supernova explosion of a massive star, combined with gravitational collapse, that compresses the core past white dwarf star density to that of atomic nuclei.
Science & Tech
Crop Insurance Week (July 1 to 7)
Union Ministery of Agriculture launched the Crop Insurance Awareness Campaign for PM Fasal Bima Yojana during the Crop Insurance Week as a part of Government's India@75 campaign "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav".
PMFBY was launched in 2016, the scheme has insured over 29.16 crore farmer applications (5.5 crore farmer applications on year-on-year basis).
Over the period of 5 years, more than 8.3 crore farmer applications have benefited from the scheme.
Gov. Schemes
OECD-G20 global tax deal
India and majority members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting adopted a high-level statement outlining a consensus solution to address tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy.
The proposed solution consists of two components - Pillar One which is about reallocation of additional share of profit to the market jurisdictions and Pillar Two consisting of minimum tax and subject to tax rules.
On July 1, 2021, a total of 130 countries agreed to an overhaul of global tax norms to ensure multinationals pay taxes wherever they operate and at a minimum 15% rate.
Implementation, expected as early as 2023, would depend on action at the national level. Countries would enact the minimum tax requirement into their own laws. Other parts could require a formal treaty.
In 2016, India imposed an equalisation levy of 6% on online advertisement services provided by non-residents. This was applicable to Google and other foreign online advertising service providers.
The government expanded its scope from April 1, 2020, by imposing a 2% equalisation levy on digital transactions by foreign entities operating in India or having access to the local market.
Economy