(FREE) UPSC Current Affairs 2024 PDF

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 February 2022

::NATIONAL::

The Centre has proposed a law that empowers it to fix the maximum selling price of fertilisers and control its quality as well as distribution.
The Department of Fertilizers has sought comments from all stakeholders on the draft Integrated Plant Nutrition Management Bill, 2022, by February 26.

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It also seeks to establish an ‘Integrated Plant Nutrition Management Authority of India’.
It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the distribution, price and quality of standards of fertilisers.
The proposed law is aimed at promoting the development and sustainable use of balanced fertilisers, including bio-fertilisers, bio-stimulates, nano-fertilisers and organic fertilisers.
It seeks to simplify the process for the manufacture, production, distribution and price management of fertilisers in India, which will, in turn, improve the ease of doing business.
It also aims to empower the Centre to fix different prices or rates for fertilisers having different periods of storage or for different areas or for different classes of consumers.

Union Minister of Coal chaired a meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee of Ministry ofCoal to discuss the status of compliance of Environmental Norms by Coal/Lignite Companies.

About Consultative committees:

They are attached to various ministries/departments of the Central Government and consist ofmembers of both the Houses of Parliament.
These committees are constituted by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
The Ministry also makes arrangements for holding their meetings both during the session andthe inter-session period of Parliament.
The membership of these committees is voluntary.

Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday following a declaration of war by President Vladimir Putin.

What’s the issue between Russia and Ukraine?

Ukraine, a democratic country of 44 million people with more than 1,000 years of history, is the biggest country in Europe by area after Russia itself.
It voted overwhelmingly for independence from Moscow after the fall of the Soviet Union and says it aims to join Nato and the European Union.
Russian President has called Ukraine an artificial creation carved from Russia by enemies, a characterisation Ukrainians call shocking and false.
The Russian President has also claimed that Ukraine is a puppet of the West and was never a proper state anyway.
The Russian President has demanded guarantees from the West and Ukraine that it will not join Nato, a defensive alliance of 30 countries. He also wants Ukraine to be demilitarised and become a neutral state.
But in January last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join Nato.
This greatly irked Russia as it does not want Ukraine to move towards European institutions such as Nato and the EU.

But why do Russia, US and Europe care so much about Ukraine?

Both Russia and the West see Ukraine as a potential buffer against each other.
Russia considers Ukraine within its natural sphere of influence.
Most of it was for centuries part of the Russian Empire, many Ukrainians are native Russian speakers and the country was part of the Soviet Union until winning independence in 1991.

Archaeologists found 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan’s eastern desert.

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It is almost landlocked country, with a short coastline at the Straitof Aqaba, along Red Sea.The capital and largest city of Jordan is Amman.
Jordan has three major physiographic regions: the Syrian Desert,the uplands east of the Jordan River, and the Jordan Valley.
Jordan river separates Jordan from ancient Palestine. River rises onthe slopes of Mount Hermon and empties into the Dead Sea.
Dead Sea, landlocked Salt Lake lies between Israel and Jordan.
Highest point is Mount Ramm, 1,754 metres.
Lowest point recognised as Jordan Valley drops to about 430 metres below sea level at Dead Sea, the lowestnatural point on Earth’s surface.

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh launched Ombudsperson App for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.

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Ministry of Rural Development has developed an Ombudsperson App for smooth reporting and categorization of grievances by Ombudsperson based on complaints he received from various sources viz. physical, digital and mass media, related to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme in the States/UTs.
At present, the reporting of complaints, passing awards and disposal of complaints are in physical form. For the smooth reporting of complaints, passing awards and quick disposal of complaints Ombudsperson App is developed.
This will strengthen Ombudsperson in the discharge of her/his duty in a hassle-free manner.

Bloatware apps come pre-installed in every newly purchased electronic devices that recently being criticised for taking up the storage of the device unnecessarily and even affects the system’s battery life and overall performance

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Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP), more popularly known as bloatware apps are needless programs that take a toll on your device’s performance.
Device manufacturers introduced these bloatware apps to provide users with additional programs that they might want to use, while making money on the way. Gradually, these apps, rather than being helpful, end up being a headache for users.
Generally, these apps that run in the background are hidden and locating them becomes a tough job for the users. It could be any software on your computer, phone or tablet that consumes a lot of resources like — memory, storage and battery life.
This hogging up of resources slows down the performance of your device.

Different types of bloatwares found on devices:

There are three most common types of bloatwares that can be found on any device.
Utilities: These types of bloatwares come from manufacturers and third-party developers and are usually pre-loaded on your device. These offer added functionality to your device.
Trialware: These types of bloatwares can be found usually on Windows computers and these devices usually come with preloaded softwares that need a licence to work. Users can experience the app as most of them offer free trial modes in new devices.
Adware: These types of bloatware typically gets downloaded while downloading softwares from the internet. They don’t always pose security risks and constantly show ads on your web.