Current Affairs 2024 – Daily, Weekly, Monthly And Yearly PDF
Day of the Year
National Coloring Book Day
- Launched in May 2015 by Dover Publications, this day aims to highlight the joys and benefits of coloring.
- In the 1880s, the McLoughlin Brothers published what is considered the first coloring book in collaboration with Kate Greenaway.
- Interestingly, coloring books initially catered more to adults before becoming the children’s favorite they are today. statements.
- The concept of adult coloring books resurfaced with Dover Publications releasing ‘Antique Automobiles Coloring Book’ in 1970.
Latest Updates
States can sub-classify SCs for quotas: top court
- Majority judgment on Thursday, a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, held that the States have the right to sub-classify Scheduled Castes notified in the Presidential List to provide them more preferential treatment in public employment and education.
- Referring to how a nine-judge Bench in the Indra Sawhney case had held it constitutional to classify the backward class into “backward” and the “more backward”, Chief Justice Chandrachud said the same principle would apply to the SCs.
News Capsule
A verdict on the Money Bill that India awaits
- In the coming weeks, a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India is slated to hear arguments over critical questions governing the contours of a Money Bill. The Court’s ultimate ruling will have ramifications on a slew of legislation that has been enacted in recent years without the Rajya Sabha’s approval.
- At stake too in the case are the future of India’s federal architecture and the various delicate balances on which the Constitution’s divisions of power rest.
- The reference to the seven-judge Bench emanates out of a verdict rendered in November 2019, in Rojer Mathew vs South Indian Bank Ltd., in which the Finance Act, 2017, was under challenge.
Mental health matters: the psychological pressures of UPSC preparation
The recent flooding of the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi has drawn our attention to the precarious living conditions of UPSC aspirants. While the tragic event has highlighted several systemic lapses, it also alludes to the gruelling journey countless students embark on while facing academic and economic pressures. These pressures end up taking a toll on their mental health. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’s ADSI report 2021, an alarming 35 students end up taking their lives every day. Lokniti-CSDS data reveals that about a quarter of UPSC aspirants know someone who has either harmed themselves or attempted to commit suicide due to pressure.
States can directly buy rice from FCI, says Food Minister
- Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced here on Thursday that State governments can directly purchase rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) from Thursday without participating in e-auction.
- According to the Centre, the decision was taken to reduce the huge surplus stocks ahead of the procurement after this kharif season.
- Mr. Joshi said if the States wanted to procure more rice over the stipulated 5 kg of free grain per individual under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), they could procure it for ₹2,800 per quintal (excluding transportation cost), instead of the earlier rate of ₹2,900 per quintal.
GM crops might not be perfect, but what matters is that they are useful
India’s torturous saga on the fate of genetically modified food crop made another pit stop last week with a two-judge Bench, of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol of the Supreme Court of India, delivering a split verdict on the question of allowing genetically modified (GM) mustard in farmer fields. As of today, the only GM seed permissible in India is cotton. The gain in cotton yield had prompted agricultural institutions, private and public, to develop GM seeds in food crops such as rice, wheat, tomato, brinjal and mustard though none has been released. These issues underpin the story of DMH-11, or Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11, that was developed under a publicly funded project at the Delhi University’s biotechnology department. The genes used in the plant make the crop suitable and lucrative to private seed companies for making newer hybrid varieties.
