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Thursday, December 24, 2020

National Consumer Rights Day: December 24

 Every year, the National Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on December 24 in India. The World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on March 15.

The National Consumer Day is celebrated through out India to protect the interests of the consumers. This year, the National Consumer Rights Day is celebrated under the following theme

Theme: The Sustainable Consumer


Why on December 24?

The National Consumer Rights Day is celebrated on December 24 as the Consumer Protection Act was enacted on this day in 1986.

Consumer Protection Act

The act recognises six rights of the consumers. They are Right of Choice, Right of Redressal, Right of Hearing, Right of Education, Right to Protection and Right of Information.

  • The right to Protection is the right to be protected against marketing of goods and services that are hazardous to life and property.
  • The Right to Information is being informed about quality, quantity, potency, purity, price of goods and standard.
  • Right of Hearing is that the consumer should be heard and assured that consumer interests shall receive due consideration at appropriate terms.
  • The Right of Redressal is seeking redressal against unfair trade practices and exploitation. According to the act, speedy and simple redressal to consumers is to be set up at district, state and central level.
  • Right to Information is the right to learn about competitive prices of goods and services.

Central Consumer Protection Authority

The Central Consumer Protection Authority was established under the Consumer Protection Act. It was established under Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

The authority is empowered to investigate on matters that are related to violations of consumer rights. It will mainly ensure if the goods and services being offered are in accordance to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.It has powers to withdraw services that are unsafe, dangerous and hazardous to consumer, pass an order to refund prices of goods or services and discontinuation of practices that are unfair.

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GATE 2021: These 7 preparation strategies will help you score more

 

GATE 2021 preparation tips: The time left before the GATE exam can be effectively used to revise core engineering concepts and important formulas to save the marks lost in silly mistakes

GATE 2021 preparation tips: The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE 2021) is undeniably the most sought after PG engineering entrance exam in the country. It serves as a gateway to admission in Master’s programmes. In addition, many PSUs conduct recruitment of graduate engineers on the basis of GATE score. IIT Bombay has already announced the branch-wise exam dates of GATE and the examination is scheduled to be held in less than two months’ time, that is, in February. It is high time that GATE aspirants utilise the available time to secure their best score which brings us to pen down some important last month preparation strategies in this read.

As the conducting institute of the 2021 exam, IIT Bombay will release the GATE admit card on January 8 at gate.iitb.ac.in. The examination is scheduled to be held from February 5 to 7 and 12 to 14. Although the GATE 2021 syllabus has changed from the last time, the common section of General Aptitude is still there for all papers in addition to the subject wise syllabus corresponding to different subjects. A simple yet effective revision strategy is solving workbooks for both GA and subject-specific questions. A significant portion of marks is given away in silly mistakes. Candidates must take care of this through extensive practice in these last few days before the exam.

Blindly solving mock tests and doing workbook exercises would not however help much, if a candidate has confusion in the understanding of basic concepts. This is particularly relevant for the subject-specific questions that are related to core engineering concepts and theories. We recommend candidates revisit core theories and concepts from the engineering subjects at least once. A useful shortcut is to refer to short-notes if the candidate has already prepared them earlier. In other cases, ready to use notes for GATE can always be found over the internet.

Candidates who took the GATE exam earlier are of the opinion that the aptitude and mathematics part pose a tremendous opportunity to push the score toward the top of the GATE result. However, one must be fluent with the techniques implemented to solve typical aptitude questions as well as the mathematical functions, equations, relations and formula to solve quantitative aptitude questions. In order to remain competitive, candidates have to therefore be able to swiftly recall such formulas or methods for typical problem-solving. If needed, make a chart of important formulas, equations and relations and refer to these in-between study hours For those who are appearing in the GATE exam for the first time, it might be confusing as to what exact type of questions is asked in the exam. For instance, questions with confusing alternatives such as “not true” or “not false” are often encountered in such exams. The way out is to refer to the previous years’ papers of the exam. The correct answers are always available in the GATE answer keys so use the papers and the keys conjointly and get acquainted with the paper even before appearing in the exam.

Lastly, we have an important trick that is bound to be helpful for aspirants this year. Refer to previous papers and the syllabus of the GATE exam. Identify at least 20-25 topics that have been common in the question papers of the last five years’ GATE exam. Note these down and highlight these topics in the syllabus, short notes, practice books, mock tests and every other learning material handy. Study these topics extensively and there is a good chance to get a fair share of the common questions in GATE.

Source: Indian Express, 23/12/20



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The debilitating impact of pollution on the economy

 Delhi suffered the highest per-capita economic loss due to air pollution last year in India, according to a study published in The Lancet on Tuesday. The economic loss due to lost output from premature deaths and illness attributable to air pollution (outdoor and household) as a percentage of state GDP was 1.08% in Delhi. The highest loss to GDP was recorded by Uttar Pradesh (2.15%), followed by Bihar (1.95%), Madhya Pradesh (1.70%) and Rajasthan (1.70%). Overall deaths and disease due to air pollution, according to The Lancet, is responsible for a loss of 1.36% of the nation’s GDP.

The impact of air pollution on the economy can be deep, yet not immediately obvious. For example, higher rates of asthma, diabetes or chronic respiratory diseases can lead to reduced ability to work and lower participation rates in the labour force. Children susceptible to asthma attacks also miss school days, which can severely impact their learning and subsequently future growth, while health care requirements can result in their parents taking extra time off from work. Deaths of children and young people bring an economic cost through lost contributions to society and the economy, which can be large. Earlier this year, a study released by MIT Sloan said that a large-scale review demonstrates that air pollution is not only detrimental to people’s physiological health, but also their psychological health. It increases depression, and impairs cognitive functioning and decision-making.

In a developing country such as India, there is a continuing debate on carbon-intensive growth versus environment and health. But as The Lancet study shows, increasing pollution load is erasing the very economic and human development gains that the country aspires to achieve. The pollution-related losses will also hit the poorer states with weaker social infrastructure harder, deepening the already existing social and economic inequities further.

Source: Hindustan Times, 24/12/20

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Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Quote of the Day December 22, 2020

 

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
C S Lewis
“आप कभी भी इतने बूढ़े नहीं होते कि एक नया लक्ष्य न निर्धारित कर सकें या एक नया सपना न देख सकें।”
सी एस लुईस
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Current Affairs – December 22, 2020

 

India

Committee to be set up to commemorate 125 th birth anniversary of Netaji

The Government of India has decided to constitute a high level committee to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The committee is to be headed by Union Home minister Amit Shah. The committee will decide on the activities to be conducted for one year starting 23rd January, 2021.

Jal Shakti Abhiyan II: “Catch the rain awareness generation campaign” launched

On December 21, 2020, the National Water Mission operated by the Ministry Of Jal Shakti launched the “Catch the rain awareness generation campaign” under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan phase 2.

Kisan Ekta Morcha page banned by facebook

The Facebook has recently banned a page called Kisan Ekta morcha on its platform. The social media giant has cited community standards on spam as reasons for the ban. However, the page was later restored after widespread opposition on social media.

Dr F C Kohli centre of excellence to be established at Chennai Mathematical institute

The Chennai Mathematical Institute is to establish Dr F C Kohli Centre of Excellence for advanced research in mathematical and computing Sciences .

Status of Leopard in India 2018 report released

On December 21, 2020, the Environment Minister Prakash javadekar released the Status of Leopard in India 2018. According to the report India now has 12852 leopards. The Leopard population has increased by 60 % as compared to that of the previous estimate conducted in 2014.

Congress leader Motilal Vora passed away at 93

On December 21, 2020, the Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Moti Lal Vohra passed away. He held the office of Governor of Uttar Pradesh between 1993 and 1996 .

Economy and corporate

Bank of Baroda and Indian Defence forces sign Memorandum of understanding for new Baroda military salary package

The Public Sector lender Bank of Baroda and Indian defence forces (Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which the bank is to offer customised services to the account holders. The banking services to be provided through Baroda military salary package.

World

PM Modi holds virtual Summit with his Vietnamese counterpart

On December 21, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual Summit with his Vietnamese counterpart. The countries signed seven agreements in the areas of scientific research, defence, nuclear and renewable energy, petrochemicals and subjects such as cancer treatment.

India Japan Samvad conference

On December 21, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi address to the 6th Indo Japan somewhat conference. He proposed setting up of a library that is dedicated to Traditional Buddhist literature and scriptures.

India Israel sign agreement

On December 21, 2020, India and Israel signed an agreement to co-operate in the fields of health and medicine. This includes sharing of expertise in building climate resilient infrastructure and support green Health Care. This agreement replaces the previous agreement signed in 2003.

India suspended all flights originating from United kingdom

On December 21, 2020, India suspended all the flights originating from United Kingdom due to growing Global concerns over the new covid-19 strain.

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Economic & Political Weekly: Table of Contents

 

Vol. 55, Issue No. 50, 19 Dec, 2020

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IIT-Kanpur launches diploma programme in Earth Science

 

The programme under the Department of Civil Engineering will focus in three core areas- geodesy, navigation and mapping, remote sensing and GIS

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur has launched a diploma programme in geodesy, the science of measuring the Earth. The programme, under the Department of Civil Engineering, will focus on three core areas — geodesy, navigation and mapping, remote sensing and GIS, according to the institute.

The programme will be open to candidates from various backgrounds including civil engineering, computer science, information technology, electrical and electronics, mining, geoinformatics, physics, mathematics, Earth science, environmental science, geography, etc. The candidates who have qualified GATE can apply for the programme.

The diploma programme will add to the skillsets of working professionals from government institutions, industry, faculty members, and researchers in academic institutions involved in teaching, research and development.

Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said: “Geodesy is an area where well-qualified technical human resources, research activities, and geodetic infrastructure are required at the national level for the fast-developing infrastructure requirements in the country today. The National Center for Geodesy (NCG) has been established to enhance expertise in Geodesy and allied areas.”

The Geodesy has applications in monitoring earthquake, volcanic, landslide, and weather hazard recognition and response, soil health, water resources, and drought surveillance, climate change including monitoring the polar ice cover, oil spill clean-ups; GPS timing and autonomous vehicle development.

Source: Indian Express, 21/12/20

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