Civil Service Bytes

#1. Defence Capability Enhancements   India’s biggest ship, aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, finally arrives source: NDTV.com INS Vikramaditya is a Kiev class aircraft carrier  which was commissioned by Russian Navy in 1987 under the name Baku. It was later renamed as Admiral Gorshkov and last sailed in 1995 in Russia, before being offered to India. India agreed to buy it in 2004 for $974 million. The cost kept shooting up as Russia delayed the delivery by over five years. INS Kolkata – Biggest warship ever to be built in India till date source: NDTV.com INS Kolkata is the lead ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. She was constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL),  and was handed over to the navy on 10 July 2014.  A bit of an old news but mightier still! INS Kolkata, under the Project 15 Alpha, belongs to the destroyer class and is the first of three ships currently under construction Being wholly constructed in the country, th

Horizontal Devolution Formula  –  Horizontal devolution means transfer of finance between states. The Commission added a new criterion of forest cover for devolution of Central taxes which has gone against the nine states. The panel has assigned 7.5 per cent weight to forest cover for inter-se determination of the shares of taxes to the states, while population carries 17.5 per cent weight, demographic change 10 percent, income distance 50 and area 15 per cent weight. With the addition of the new criterion, Uttar Pradesh is the biggest loser followed by Bihar. Meanwhile, 19 states stand to gain from the new arrangement. Arunachal Pradesh is the biggest gainer. Devolution to states:  It has recommended that devolution should be primary mode of funds transfers to states. States’ share in net proceeds from tax collections be 42% — a huge jump from 32% recommend by the 13th Finance Commission, and the largest change ever in the percentage of devolution. The higher tax devolution w

Horizontal Devolution Formula  –  Horizontal devolution means transfer of finance between states. The Commission added a new criterion of forest cover for devolution of Central taxes which has gone against the nine states. The panel has assigned 7.5 per cent weight to forest cover for inter-se determination of the shares of taxes to the states, while population carries 17.5 per cent weight, demographic change 10 percent, income distance 50 and area 15 per cent weight. With the addition of the new criterion, Uttar Pradesh is the biggest loser followed by Bihar. Meanwhile, 19 states stand to gain from the new arrangement. Arunachal Pradesh is the biggest gainer. Devolution to states:  It has recommended that devolution should be primary mode of funds transfers to states. States’ share in net proceeds from tax collections be 42% — a huge jump from 32% recommend by the 13th Finance Commission, and the largest change ever in the percentage of devolution. The higher tax devolution w

Appointment of Supreme Court Judge in India The Supreme court Judges in India are appointed by the President on the advice of his Council of Ministers and in consultation with such persons as he deems fit. In the appointment of the Chief Justice, the President consults such judges of the Supreme Court and High courts as he thinks necessary. Qualification for appointment as a Supreme Court Judge Article 124 (3) of the constitution prescribes that for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court a person must he (a) a citizen of India, (b) has been a judge of any High Court for at least 5 years, or (c) has been an advocate in a High Court for 10 years or is in the opinion of the President a distinguished jurist. There is no fixed tenure of service for a judge. He continues in service till the completion of 65th year of age. Vacancy of Post of Judge of Supreme Court inIndia Article  124 (4) prescribes the methods how the post of a judge may fall vacant. These a

Here are some key points you need to know: The bill seeks to add 106 inland waterways to the existing six National Waterways on the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and comments of several state governments The bill will also look after the renovation and maintenance of the existing waterways Out of the 106 new waterways, 18 have already been identified. These include five waterways each from Karnataka and Meghalaya, three each from Maharashtra and Kerala, one each from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan The bill also aims to help the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to develop the feasible stretches for Shipping and Navigation. Let us look at the six existing National Waterways in India: National Waterway 1 (NW1) The National Waterway No. 1 uses a 1,620-kilometre stretch of the Ganges River. It was declared a national waterway in the year 1986 and runs from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal.

Asia is the world's largest peak continent. Mount Everest in the Himalayas is the highest  in  the world. The Dead Sea in the West is the lowest point  in  the world. The coldest point in Asia is the frozen waste  of  Northern Siberia. Himalayas is the example of young mountain  range. The 'Takla Makan' is one of several deserts  in  the  Central Asia. Singapore is one of the world's densely populated  places. India is the world's largest democracy while  China  is  a  communist power. The booming 'Tiger Economy' has developed in countries such as Taiwan which borders  the  Pacific  Ocean. Norilsk is one of several era industrial complexes built in Russia. It is a processing centre of rich minerals reserves found  nearby. Mumbai is India's leading industrial city and  has  a  thriving  stock market. Half of the world's oil and gas reserves are  in Asia. Japan is world's leading producer of electronic and high-tech goods like compute

Sirocco is a type of hot wind blowing from Sahara  to Mediterranean. Swahili is the oldest surviving African language. The country Zaire has the maximum Hydro- electric  Power  potential  in Africa. The country Djibouti is facing the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. Dar-es-Salam is the easternmost terminus of Tanjara railways which begins from Katanga  mineral  belt. Ostrich is the flightless bird of Kalahari Desert. Ethiopia is the place of origin of coffee. Pretoria is the administrative capital of S. Africa. Nilots are the aborigines of upper    Nile. River Zaire is the only river that crosses the equator  twice. Nubian  desert  lies  in Egypt. The countries Ethiopia and Somalia form  the  Horn  of Africa. High Veld is the temperate grassland of South  Africa. Africa is the most tropical of all   continents. Most part of Kalahari Desert lies in Botswana. The Farmers of the Egypt are also called Fellahin. Gibraltar, Suez and Bab-el-Mandeb are three points where Africa almos

Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund  (CEPF) is a global program that provides funding and technical assistance to non-governmental organizations and other private sector partners to protect critical ecosystems. They focus on  biodiversity hotspots , the Earth's biologically richest yet most endangered areas. World Wide Fund for Nature The  World Wide Fund for Nature  ( WWF ) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the reduction of humanity's footprint on the environment. It was formerly named the  World Wildlife Fund , which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the world's largest conservation organization. Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world's biodiversity: oceans and coasts, forests, and freshwater ecosystems. Among other issues, it is a

Here are the major topics which have been in news recently and there is a possibility that UPSC might pose a question from any of the latest happenings. Policy to adopt world heritage sites UNESCO, with the help of 21 member World Heritage Committee and advisory bodies such as International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), within the framework of its Operational Guidelines, decides about the cultural and natural sites to be included on the World Heritage list.  Such cultural and natural sites must display the necessary Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), fulfill one or more out of 10 prescribed criteria (as given below), maintain the condition of authenticity and integrity and should be in a good state of conservation.  There are 32 sites from India declared as World Heritage sites - 25 are cultural sites and 7 are natural sites. The Criteria for the assessment of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) as per UNESCO’s Ope