FAQ

According to a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs on 14 September 2022,President  Droupadi Murmu will represent the government of India at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

She will be visiting  London, United Kingdom on 17-19 September 2022.

The 96 year old Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom died at her remote Highlands residence, Balmoral, in Scotland on 8 September 2022.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will launch Rakta Daan Amrit Mahotsav, a countrywide mega campaign for voluntary blood donation from September 17 to October 1 this year.

October 1 is celebrated as National Voluntary Blood Donation Day.

Purpose of Blood Donation Amrit Festival

According to the Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, the government plans to set up a database of eligible voluntary blood donors through voluntary blood donation drive across the country.

According to the minister the objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about the need for regular non-remunerative voluntary blood donation.

Apart from filling the existing capacity of blood banks in the country, this campaign will also help in building up the stock of blood donors in the country.

According to the government, in the year 2021, India had 1.25 crore units of blood against the demand of 1.46 crore units. One unit contains 350 ml of blood.

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge ) for  Science and Technology  Dr Jitendra Singh has said that India's first human space-flight mission Gaganyaan is expected to be launched in 2024.

He said that the government had planned the human space flight in 2022 itself to commemorate the 75 years of Independence but due to Covid it couldn't be completed.

The first test flight of the mission is expected this year. The first test flight will be followed by sending a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot — Vyom Mitra — in outer space likely next year,

Gaganyaan Mission 

• The Gaganyaan mission was announced by the Prime Minister in his independence day speech in 2018 with a budget of Rs 10,000 crore.
• Four Indian Air Force pilots have been identified as crew for the mission who are undergoing training in Russia.
• Indian Space research Organisation (ISRO) intends to send at least 2 astronauts in low earth orbit in 2024.

Human Space Flight 

• At present only three countries, the United States, Russia and China have the capability to launch manned space missions.
• The first person to go into space was Yury Gagarin of the Soviet Union on 12 April 1961 onboard the Vostok Rocket.
• The first woman to go into space was Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union on 16 June 1963  onboard the Vostok 6 Rocket.
• Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma is the only Indian to go into space. He was part of the Soviet mission aboard Soyuz T-11 on 3 April 1984. 
• Humans who travel in space are called astronauts. The Chinese call them Taikonauts and the Russians call them Cosmonauts.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) 

• It was set up on 15 August 1969
• It is India's national space agency.
• Headquarters: Bengaluru
• Chairman: S. Somanath

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi is set to become the Attorney General of India again. He is set to begin his second term as the country's top law officer from October 1.

Important facts

• Current Attorney General KK Venugopal's term ends on 30 September 2022.
• 91-year-old Venugopal was appointed as the 15th Attorney General of the country on June 30, 2017, replacing Mukul Rohatgi.
• Rohatgi was the Attorney General for the Bhartiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government between 2014 and 2017.
• Mukul Rohatgi is the son of former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Awadh Behari Rohatgi.
• Rohatgi completed his law studies at Government Law College, Mumbai and started practicing law.
• He was nominated as Senior Advocate by the Delhi High Court in 1993 and later as Additional Solicitor General of India in 1999.

Attorney General of India

• The Attorney General of India is the top legal officer in the country.
• He/She is assisted by 2 Solicitor Generals & 4 Additional Solicitor Generals.
• According to the Constitution of India, Article 76 deals with the Attorney General of India and Article 165 deals with the Advocate General of the States.
• Appointment - By President 

Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) , an apex industry body of digital infrastructure providers will host  its Annual Flagship Event on 14 September  2022 at the New Delhi .The event is said to be the biggest event of Telecom industry of the year 2022.

The event is being organised by DIPA with the support of the Department of Telecommunications .

The Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the Chief Guest  and the  Minister of State for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan will be the Guest of Honour.

Theme of the Event 2022 

The theme of the event is :  “Gati Shakti vision for 5G & Beyond”.

The Supreme Court on 13 September 2022 has ruled that the right to contest an election is neither a fundamental right nor a common law right but a right conferred by statute. It was giving its ruling on a Special Leave petition filed by Mr Vishwanath Pratap Singh challenging Delhi High Court judgment which had dismissed a similar petition.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh Vs Election Commission of India 2022

The petitioner Vishwanath Pratap Singh wanted to contest the Rajya Sabha election to be held in June 2022. He said he had collected the nomination form but was not allowed by the Election Commission to file his nomination without a proper proposer proposing his name.

The petitioner claimed that since his candidature without the proposer was not accepted, his fundamental right to free speech and expression and his right to personal liberty was infringed.

The Delhi High Court had in its Judgment dismissed his petition that his fundamental right was infringed.

Supreme Court Judgment 

A two judge bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia while  referring to earlier judgments viz Javed v. State of Haryana, (2003) and Rajbala v. State of Haryana (2016) , dismissing his plea observed that the right to contest election was neither a fundamental right nor a common law right. It is a right conferred by a statute."

The bench noted that the petitioner did not have any right to contest election to the Rajya Sabha in terms of the law made by Parliament.

 The Court said that "The Representation of People Act, 1950 read with the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 has contemplated the name of a candidate to be proposed while filling the nomination form,".

"Therefore, an individual cannot claim that he has a right to contest an election and the said stipulation violates his fundamental right, so as to file his nomination without any proposer as is required under the Act," the bench observed.

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition with a cost of ₹ one lakh and said the cost be paid to the Supreme Court Legal Aid Committee within four weeks.

According to GMR, the company will now focus on high-growth opportunities. It will now use the capital to invest in the Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, Indonesia. The Kualanamu International Airport is being developed and operated by GMR Airports International.

Cebu International Airport 

It is the second largest Airport in the Philippines after the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila.

In 2014, GMR Infrastructure in partnership with Megawide Construction Corporation of the Philippines won the bid to operate and develop the  Mactan Cebu International Airport. 

Both the Megawide Construction company and GMR are selling their stake to Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc of the Philippines.

Currency of Philippines: Philippine pesos

GMR 

GMR Airports International BV (GAIBV) is a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Ltd 

GMR Group operates the IGI Delhi International Airport,  Rajiv Gandhi Hyderabad International Airport and Bidar Airport in  (Karnataka).

It is building a greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa and an International Greenfield Airport at Bhogapuram, Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh.

It is the only Indian company to develop and operate an International foreign airport. It is developing airports in Indonesia, Greece.

The GMR group was founded by Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao. It is in the business of Infrastructure, Energy, transportation etc.

According to a news report published by Bloomberg, India has overtaken the United Kingdom to become the 5th  largest economy in the world.

India is now ranked behind the United States, China , Japan and Germany .

 Main  highlights of the Bloomberg Report 

According to Bloomberg , the Indian economy overtook the United Kingdom economy at the end of December 2021.

According to Bloomberg at the end of March 2022, the Indian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was  $854.7 billion while the United Kingdom GDP was $$816 billion.

Gap between Indian and United Kingdom economy to grow 

Bloomberg expects the gap between the Indian and United Kingdom economy to grow in future .

The United Kingdom is facing the fastest inflation in four decades and rising risks of a recession that the Bank of England(Central Bank of the United Kingdom) says may last well into 2024. 

The United Kingdom economy has contracted by 0.1% in the  second quarter (April-June) of 2022.

On the contrary, India's economy is likely to grow by over 7% this year and it is expected to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world .

What is recession 

When there is a negative growth in the economy for the two consecutive quarters then the economy is in recession. 

Recession leads to large scale closure of factories, loss of employment , increase in unemployment ,poverty and spread in  social and political unrest in the country. 

The Indian economy grew by 13.5% in the April to June (2022-23) as compared to the same period last year. However it was below the Reserve Bank of India 16.2 % forecast  for the first quarter.

India still remains the fastest growing major economy in the world . The Chinese economy grew by 0.4% during April -June 2022.

The growth rate of the Indian economy in 2021-22 was 8.7%.

The data regarding the performance of the Indian economy in the first quarter of the fiscal year 20222-23 was released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on 31 st August 2022.

GDP  growth rate  at constant price(2011-12 base year) 

GVA=GDP + subsidies on products – taxes on products.

Nominal GDP

The Nominal GDP at Current Prices in Q1 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 64.95 lakh crore against Rs 51.27 lakh crore in Q1 2021-22, showing a growth of 26.7 per cent compared to 32.4 per cent a year ago.

 While calculating the nominal GDP the market price of goods and services are included. It makes no adjustment for inflation 

GDP at Constant Price or Real GDP

The Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at Constant Price  (2011-12) in Q1 2022-23 is estimated at  Rs 36.85 lakh crore, as against Rs 32.46 lakh crore in Q1 2021-22, showing a growth of 13.5.

While calculating the GDP at constant price the price rise in the goods and services due to inflation is not counted . Prices are fixed to a base year . It measures the actual increase in the production of goods and services . 

GDP at constant price is the best indicator to measure the growth of an economy.

The United States has expressed concern about the participation of Indian Armed forces in the joint military exercises to be hosted by Russia. The US government's concern was conveyed by the White House press secretary Karrie Jean Pierre on 30 August 2022.  White House is the official residence of the United States President and is seen as the symbol of the office of the Presidency. 

Russian Vostok 2022 military drill :

Russia said on 29 August had announced that the Vostok 2022 military exercises will be held from September 1 - 7, 2022, in different locations in the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan.

Around 50,000 troops from China, India and Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria and several ex-Soviet nations will participate in the exercise.

Last year, India attended Exercise ZAPAD 2021 drills in Russia in which 17 countries including China and Pakistan took part.

What is the US objection ?

The American government was concerned about any country participating in military exercises with Russia while it was at war with Ukraine.

It is seen as a pressure tactic by the United States to isolate Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.