UPSC QUIZ 24.05.2024

Explanation:

• India participated in the 19th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) at the UN Headquarters in New York.
• India highlighted its significant advancements in forest conservation and sustainable forest management, leading to a consistent increase in forest cover over the past fifteen years.

Key Takeaways from UNFF19

• India presented its revised National Forest Policy emphasising forest fire prevention and management through recommendations and technological solutions.
• According to UNFF, about 100 million hectares of forest or 3% of world’s total forest area are affected by fires each year.
• India proposes operationalising the Global Fire Management Hub, a collaborative effort by the UNEP and the FAO to share knowledge and experiences in mitigating forest fires.

Explanation:

• Government has notified the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control, and Discipline) Act empowering the Commander-in-Chief or Officer-in-Command of Inter-services Organisations to manage personnel from all branches of the military, streamlining operations and fostering collaboration.

Key Features of the Inter-Services Organisations (ISOs) Act

Background

• Currently, the Armed Forces operate under distinct Service Acts like the Army Act of 1950, the Navy Act of 1957, and the Air Force Act of 1950.
• However, the diverse nature of these acts has sometimes posed challenges in maintaining uniform discipline, coordination, and expeditious proceedings across the inter-service establishments.
• The ISO Act does not propose any alteration to the existing service acts, rules, or regulations.

Explanation:

• A group of Indian astronomers using India’s AstroSat satellite found an interesting event happening around the black hole X-ray binary system called “Swift J1727.8-1613” in August 2023. NASA’s Swift telescope was the first to see this system.
• AstroSat, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, made observations from September 2 to September 14, 2023, that led to a finding in the field of astrophysics that had never been seen before.
• Scientists from ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre, IIT Guwahati, the University of Mumbai, and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research all worked together to make these discoveries.

Explanation:

• The Karnataka government issued an order to reserve 33% of government contract jobs for women.
• More than 75,000 employees are currently working as outsourced employees in government departments.
• The government usually hires third-party agencies to provide Group-C and Group-D posts personnel.
• The reservation policy will apply to outsourcing jobs lasting more than 45 days and employing more than 20 people.
• As per government rule, the outsourcing agencies must provide details of their employees to the tendering agency.
• Around 2.5 lakh government jobs are vacant across 43 state government departments.

Explanation:

• A Subcritical nuclear test was conducted by the USA in Nevada.
• During the tenure of President Joe Biden, this was the third experiment.
• On May 21, the experiment was conducted to gather important data regarding the country’s nuclear warheads.
• In partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Nimble series experiment was the first to be conducted at the Principal Underground Laboratory for Subcritical Experimentation (PULSE) facility.
• According to the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, the test was conducted without the use of nuclear explosive testing, which depends on subcritical tests to support the safety and effectiveness of nuclear warheads.
• In 1992, the American government had announced a restriction on tests involving nuclear explosions. But successive governments kept continuing the subcritical tests.
• In September 2021, a previous subcritical test was conducted.
• This experiment and all 33 previous US subcritical experiments conformed to the zero-yield standard of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.