(VIDEO) Flipkart to Walmart ? - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: Flipkart to Walmart ? - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : Ajay Dua, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nitin Desai, Former Chief Economic Adviser, GoI Piyush Singh, Advocate, Supreme Court Deepak Sharma, National Spokesperson, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch,Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
(VIDEO) Endgame Mallya ? - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: Endgame Mallya ? - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : Ajay Dua, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Virendra Gupta, Former Ambassador; P.K. Malhotra, Former Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice; S.K. Verma, Secretary General, Indian Society of International Law ;Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
(VIDEO) Chairman's Order & Judical Scrutiny - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: Chairman's Order & Judical Scrutiny - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : Sanjay Hegde, Sr Advocate, Supreme Court; Vivek Goyal, Advocate, Supreme Court; VK Agnihotri, Former Secretary General, Rajya Sabha; PK Malhotra, Former Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice;Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
International Criminal Court – It’s Future : Important Topics for UPSC Exams
News:
Philippines moves to quit International Criminal Court. There have been withdrawals in the recent past namely
About ICC
The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands.
The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer situations to the Court.
The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the date that the Rome Statute entered into force. The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC's foundational and governing document. States which become party to the Rome Statute, for example by ratifying it, become member states of the ICC. Currently, there are 123 states which are party to the Rome Statute and therefore members of the ICC.
India (also US and China) has neither signed nor ratified the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court (ICC)
(Final Result) National Defence Academy & Naval Academy Examination (II) 2017
The following is list, in order of merit of 447 candidates, who have qualified on the basis of the results of the Written Examination held by Union Public Service Commission in 10th September, 2017 and the subsequent Interviews held by the Services Selection Board of the Ministry of Defence for admission to the Army, Navy and Air Force wings of National Defence Academy for the 140th Course and Naval Academy for the 100th Indian Naval Academy Course (INAC) commencing from July, 2018. For detailed information regarding the date of commencement of the above courses, please visit the websites of Ministry of Defence i.e www. Join Indian army. nic.in www.nausena-bharti.nic.in and www.careerairforce.nic.in.
The results of Medical Examination have not been taken into account in preparing these lists.
The candidature of all the candidates is provisional, subject to their submitting the requisite certificates in support of date of birth and educational qualifications etc. claimed by them, directly to the Additional Directorate General of Recruiting, Adjutant General’s Branch, Integrated Headquarters, Ministry of Defence (Army), West Block No. III, Wing-1, R. K. Puram, New Delhi-110066 wherever this has not already been done and NOT to U.P.S.C.
In case, there is any change of address, the candidates are advised to promptly intimate directly to the Army Headquarters at the address given above.
The result is also available on the UPSC Website at http:// www.upsc.gov.in. However, marks of the candidates will be available on the Website after 15 days from the date of declaration of final results.
For any further information, the candidates may contact Facilitation Counter near Gate ‘C’ of the Commission, either in person or on telephone Nos.011-23385271/ 011-23381125/011-23098543 between 10:00 Hours to 17:00 hours on any working day.
(VIDEO) Hospitals : Capping Profits - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: Hospitals : Capping Profits - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : Prasanna Kumar Hota, Former Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta; Aditi Tandon, Special Correspondent, The Tribune;Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
Chemical Weapons in Syria and the US response : Important Topics for UPSC Exams
News:
The alleged use of Nerve agent and other chemical weapons in Syria has evoked a response from US which has launched missiles at certain locations in Syria.
What are chemical weapons?
It is a toxic chemical in a delivery system such as bomb or artillery.
The chemical weapons convention defines each component of a chemical weapon as a chemical weapon— whether assembled or not, stored together or separately. Anything specifically designed or intended for use in direct connection with the release of a chemical agent to cause death or harm is itself a chemical weapon.
These include :
Choking agents : Fluid builds up in lungs, choking victim. Examples include chlorine, phosgene, diphosgene and chloropicrin
Blister agents: Burns skin, mucous membranes and eyes; causes large blisters on exposed skin; blisters windpipe and lungs; large casualties, low percentage of deaths. Examples: sulphur mustard, nitrogen mustard , phosgene oxime, Lewisite
Blood agents: Cyanide destroys ability of blood tissues to utilise oxygen, causing them to ‘starve’ and strangling the heart. Examples include hydrogen cyanide, cyanogen chloride, Arsine, VX
Riot control agents: Cause tears, coughing and irritation to eyes, nose, mouth and skin; constrict airway and shut eyes; teargas and pepper spray are examples of such agents
What is nerve gas?
It is a compound that acts by incapacitating the mechanism within the body responsible for the conduction of nerve impulses
Action of acetylcholineesterase is blocked (a compound that catalyses the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine), When acetylcholinesterase is prevented from performing its normal function of breaking down acetylcholine, muscles go into a state of uncontrolled contraction — a sign of paralysis or a seizure-like state.
Nerve agents can also be absorbed through the skin.
When countries started to develop newer weapons to bypass CWC restrictions, they preferred nerve agents. That is how Novichok evolved: because restrictions are based on chemical formulae, newer molecules can bypass restrictions. Novichok is said to be 5-8 times more lethal than VX nerve agent and its effects are rapid, usually within 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
(VIDEO) South China Sea : Sea of Troubles - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: South China Sea : Sea of Troubles - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : K.P. Nayar, Strategic Analyst; Raviprasad Narayanan, Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, JNU; Commodore (Retd.) Abhijit Singh, Head, Maritime Policy Initiative, ORF;Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
(VIDEO) Tackling Cyberbullying - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: Tackling Cyberbullying - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : Harsh Kumar, Secretary, National Council of Educational Research and Training; Aprajita Gautam, President, Delhi Parents Association; Karnika Seth, Cyber law expert;Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
Limits of the Right to Religious Freedom - Nanak Shah Case : Important Topics for UPSC Exams
News:
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stop screening of the national award winning movie Nanak Shah Fakir, prima facie rejecting a plea by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) that a movie on Guru Nanak was violative of the community’s right to worship and was against a religious edict that no human being would ever portray any of the gurus or their families.
Constitutional provisions regarding Right to religious freedom and non discrimination on the basis of religion
Equality & Non-Discrimination: emphasize complete legal equality of its citizens irrespective of their religion and creed and prohibit any kind of religion-based discrimination between them.
Article 14 - The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or equal protection of the laws.
Article 15- The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them
Article 16- There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in the matter of employment or appointments under the State and no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion be ineligible for, or discriminated against, in respect of any employment or office under the State.
Article 17- The traditional religious concept of 'untouchability' stands abolished find its practice in any form IN .strictly forbidden.
Article 23(2)- If the State imposes compulsory service on citizens for public purposes no discrimination shall be made in this regard on the ground of religion only
Article 25(1)- All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion.
Article 26- Every religious denomination or any section thereof has the right to manage its religious affairs; establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable purposes; and own, acquire and administer properties of all kinds
Article 27- There shall be freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion by virtue of which no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated in payment of expenses for the promotion or maintenance of any particular religious denomination.
Article 28- No religious instruction is to be provided in the schools wholly maintained by State funding; and those attending any State recognized or State-aided school cannot be required to take part in any religious instruction or services without their (or if they are minor their guardian's) consent.
Article 29 - Any section of the citizens having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same.
Article 30 - Religious and linguistic minorities are free to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, which shall not be discriminated against by the State in the matter of giving aid or compensation in the event of acquisition.
(VIDEO) Pollution Alert - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate
Topic of Discussion: Pollution Alert - Rajya Sabha TV Big Picture Debate Expert Panel Name : Prof. C.K. Varshney, Former Dean, School of Environment Sciences JNU ; Ajay Shankar, Distinguished Fellow, The Energy and Resources Institute ; Ragini Bhuyan, Staff writer; Mint Polash Mukerjee, Researcher, Air Pollution, Centre for Science and Environment;Frank Rausan Pereira (Anchor)
