Today in History (February 20^th, 1947)

On this day, Lord Mountbatten was appointed the last viceroy of India to oversee independence.

Summary of Today’s News

Let’s Revise the previous study

1) What is the full form of MSP recently seen in the news?

1. Maximum Sales Price
2. Maximum Support Price
3. Minimum Support Price
4. Ministerial Support Party

Ans. 3)

2) Which is the department/organisation to recommend the MSP?

1. Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)
2. Cabinet Committee on economic affairs
3. Ministry of Finance
4. Ministry of Agriculture

Ans. 1)

3) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is chaired by the__________of India takes the final decision (approve) on the level of MSPs.

1. Prime Minister
2. Agriculture Minister
3. Minister of Finance
4. The President of India

Ans. 1)

 4) Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommends the MSP to______________

1. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
2. Ministry of Agriculture
3. Ministry of Finance
4. The President of India

Ans. 1)

5) Which one of the following is called the regulator of Banking in India?

1. Ministry of Finance
2. Ministry of Trade and Commerce
3. Reserve Bank of India
4. State Exchange Board of India

Ans. 3)

6) Recently RBI took action against a company based on KYC norms. What is KYC?

1. Know Your Company
2. Know Your Rights
3. Know Your Costumer
4. Know Your Country

Ans. 3)

7) Which country has the highest winning record (five times) in U-19 World Cup victory

1. New Zeeland
2. Australia
3. India/Bharat
4. Pakistan

Ans. 3)

8) Recently which country won the U-19 Cricket World Cup?

1. Australia
2. South Africa
3. India
4. England

Ans. 1)

The Supreme Court on meaning of ‘forest’

• The Supreme Court on directed the Union government that the expression ‘forest’ will have a “broad and all-encompassing” meaning for the time being.
• It will include 1.97 lakh square km of undeclared forest lands.
• The order was passed on petitions challenging the amendments introduced in 2023 to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.
• The Forest Act 1980 was enacted to check further deforestation leading to ecological imbalance.
• The petitions had argued that Section 1A introduced through the amended Act had diluted the definition of forest to two categories
  1. Declared forests
  2. Lands recorded as forests in ‘government records’ after 1980 in Government records.
  3. The Centre, however, denied any attempt to trim the extent of forest coverage.
  4. The Centre argued that the meaning has been expanded the term ‘government records’ contained in the provision to include lands recognised as forest by any State or Union Territory, local body, council or recognised communities.
  5. The Bench noted that the dictionary meaning would continue to hold field till the States and Union Territories prepare a “consolidated record” of all the lands recorded as ‘forest’ in government records.

Class 10, 12 exams will be held twice a year from 2025-26’

• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said students will get an option of appearing for Class 10 and 12 board examinations twice a year
• It will be implemented from the academic session 2025-26.
• It was said on the occasion of the launching the PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme in Chhattisgarh under which 211 schools of the State will be upgraded.
• He said one of the objectives of the new National Education Policy (NEP), unveiled in 2020, was to reduce academic stress on students.
• According to the New Curriculum Framework (NCF) announced by the Ministry of Education in August 2023,
• The board examinations will be held at least twice a year to ensure that students have enough time and opportunity to perform well.
• They will also get the option to retain the best score.
• The Union Minister told the students to keep the best marks obtained after appearing in both exams.
• The vision of NEP is to keep students stress-free, enrich them with quality education, keep students linked with culture and prepare them for the future.
• This is the formula for making India a developed country by 2047.

Lt. Gen. Dwivedi takes over as Vice-Chief of Army Staff

• Prior to this appointment, he was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, based at Udhampur from 2022 to 2024.
• He will be the senior-most officer in the Army when Army Chief Lt. Gen. Manoj Pande retires from service in May.
• Manoj Pande is the current General of the Indian Army or Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), who took over the office of the COAS on April 30, 2022.

EU launches Red Sea mission

• • The European Union launched a naval mission on 19^th February to protect Red Sea shipping from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
  • Recently a U.S.- owned cargo vessel repeatedly came under fire in the region.
  • The Iran-backed Houthis, control much of war-torn Yemen.
  • They have been harassing the vital shipping lane since November 2023.
  • Houthis are saying it as a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
  • The EU aims to have the mission — called Aspides, Greek for “shield” — up and running in a “few weeks” with at least four vessels.
  • The U.S. is already spearheading its own naval coalition in the area.
  • The dozens of Houthi attacks have roiled shipping in the Red Sea.
  • Missile attack in the latest incident, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned cargo ship was attacked twice in two hours in the Gulf of Aden,
  • Gulf of Aden adjoins the Red Sea.

• Operation Prosperity Guardian is a United States-led military operation
• Despite being a part of the Combined Maritime Forces, India has hesitated to accept the US invitation to participate in Operation Prosperity Guardian. Like France, Spain, and Italy, India would rather keep its naval presence in the region than join a marine coalition led by the US to counter the Houthi attacks.