
GS2: Polity
- What is plea bargaining and how does it work?(TH) The Law Commission of India, in its 142nd Report, mooted the idea of “concessional treatment” of those who plead guilty on their own volition, but was careful to underscore that it would not involve any plea bargaining or “haggling” with the prosecution.
GS2: International Relations
- G20 fails to reach an agreement on allocation of funds to poor nations(Mint) SDR is a global reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), comprising the US dollar, euro, yen, sterling and yuan. It is allocated to members in proportion to their quota. India has 13,114 million SDRs on account of its 2.76% quota, while the US accounts for 82,994 million SDRs for its 17.45% quota. China, with 6.41%, accounts for 30,483 million SDRs. One SDR is currently valued at $1.38.
- Ministerial meeting of Indo-US Strategic Energy Partnership highlight major accomplishments, prioritizes new cooperation areas(PIB) India and the United States have announced new areas of research on transformational power generation based on supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycles and advanced coal technologies, including carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).
- Make the right call on ‘Malabar’ going Quad(TH) Indian decision-makers should also reflect on the strategic rationale of the military-Quad. Unlike the U.S. and its Pacific partners, whose principal motivation in forming a maritime coalition is to implement a ‘rules-based order’ in the Indo-Pacific littorals, India’s priority is to acquire strategic capabilities to counter a Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
GS3: Environment
- Mobile app KURMA helps save turtles in India(TH) On May 23, 2020, World Turtle Day, a mobile-based application called KURMA was launched. The application, developed by the Indian Turtle Conservation Action Network (ITCAN) in collaboration with the Turtle Survival Alliance-India and Wildlife Conservation Society-India, not only provides users a database to identify a species but also provides the location of the nearest rescue centre for turtles across the country.
GS3: Disaster Management
- Govt. opens up NDRF for individual donations(TH) The SDRF is the primary fund available with State governments to meet the expenses of relief operations of an immediate nature, for a range of specified disasters. The Centre contributes 75% of the SDRF allocation for general category States and Union Territories, and 90% for special category States (northeast States, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir).
GS3: Science & Technology
- Psoriasis drug in COVID-19 therapy(TH) Monoclonal antibodies are proteins cloned in the lab to mimic antibodies produced by the immune system to counter an infection. They have their genesis in serum, the colourless constituent of blood that contains antibodies.
GS3: Internal Security
- Explained: What is BlackRock Android malware and are you vulnerable?(IE) BlackRock works like most Android malware. Once installed on a phone, it monitors the targeted app. When the user enters the login and/or credit card details, the malware sends the information to a server. BlackRock uses the phone’s Accessibility feature, and then uses an Android DPC (device policy controller) to provide access to other permissions.