Today in History (Mar 22^nd, 1912)

On 22 March 1912, the Bihar and Orissa divisions of the Bengal Province were separated to form the Province of Bihar and Orissa in British India.

Let’s revise

A) Who have been appointed the two new Election Commissioners

1. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar
2. Rajiv Kumar and Arung Goel
3. Shaktikant and Rajiv Naresh
4. Ramesh Sharma and Mohan Kumar

Ans. (a)

B) The Election commission of India has total ____members

1. 2
2. 3
3. 5
4. 6

Ans. (b)

C) Mindfulness City project is being developed by _______

1. Nepal
2. Bhutan
3. India
4. Bangladesh

Ans. (b)
D) Which of the following country does not make land borders with India?

1. Sri Lanka
2. Pakistan
3. China
4. Bhutan

Ans. (a)

E) Select the correct statement

1. People have the absolute right to choose any type of pet dogs.
2. Certain dogs breeds are more ferocious than others .
3. The government should not intervene in pet dogs matters.
4. People have absolute right to have any type of pet animals.

Ans. (b)

F) Select the incorrect statement

1. An authority or office of the government can be independent only if headed by a judge.
2. An authority may be independent even if not headed by a judge.
3. An authority cannot be independent without a judge.
4. Only judges are honest and independent.

Ans. (b)

G) Which South American country shares a border with the most other countries on the continent?

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Colombia
4. Chile

Ans. (a)

H) What is the official language of Brazil?

1. Spanish
2. Portuguese
3. English
4. French

Ans. (b)
I) Which South American country is the world’s leading producer of coffee?

1. Colombia
2. Peru
3. Ecuador
4. Brazil

Ans. (d)
J) Which river in South America is the longest in the world?

1. Amazon River
2. Orinoco River
3. Paraguay River
4. Uruguay River

Ans. (a)
K) Which South American country is home to the world’s highest waterfall, Angel Falls?

1. Brazil
2. Argentina
3. Venezuela
4. Bolivia

Ans. (c)

Summary of Today’s News

ED arrests Kejriwal in excise policy case.

Chief Minister of Delhi and national convener of AAP Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by ED on 21 March, on the charges of money laundering and corruption in the matter of government’s excise policy.
He will be produced before special court on Friday 22 March.

Usha Mehta

• The historical biography about Usha Mehta came out on Amazon Prime.
• She was born on 25 March 1920, in Gujarat.
• She was famous as Ushaben.
• At the young age of 8 she began participating in the freedom struggle.
• Her first political experiences were from a public meeting held in Surat to denounce the Simon Commission.
• She is well known for organizing the Congress Radio.
• It was an underground radio station which operated during the Quit India Movement in 1942.
• The radio broadcasted recorded messages from Gandhiji, nationalistic songs, and stirring speeches by revolutionaries and other eminent leaders from across India.
• Always it used to commence with the song “Hindustan Hamara” and close with “ Vande Mataram”.
• When the Civil Disobedience Movement broke out four years later, she energetically threw herself into the struggle, defying not just the Salt tax, but also participating in picketing, protest marches, and spinning the Khadi cloth.
• Usha Mehta was also present at the famous A.I.C.C session held at Bombay (Mumbai), on 7th and 8th August, 1942, the starting of the ‘Quit India’ movement Speech by Gandhi Ji.

Report on Income and Wealth Inequality in India, 1922- 2023:

• It is released by World Inequality Lab (WIL) study
• The WIL is a global research center focused on the study of inequality and public policies that promote social, economic, and environmental justice.

Main findings of the report/study:

• Inequality declined post-independence till the early
• 1980s, after which it began rising and has skyrocketed since the early 2000s.
• By the end of 2023, India’s richest citizens owned 40.1 percent of the country’s wealth.
• India’s top 1 percent income share is among the very highest in the world, higher than even South Africa, Brazil, and the US.

Impacts of extreme inequality

• It facilitates the disproportionate influence of wealthy people on society and government leading to plutocracy.
• Poor people find it more difficult to escape poverty as they do not have the same opportunities.
• Leads to lower overall economic growth.

Recommendations to remove income inequality

• Improve the quality of economic data.
• Broad-based public investments in health, education, and nutrition to enable the average Indian.
• Restructuring of the tax code to account for both income and wealth.
• A “super tax” of 2% on the net wealth of the wealthiest families can be imposed.

Nomination process for first phase of Lok Sabha polls 2024 began.

• Nominations are filed under section 33 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• Date for filing of nomination is fixed by Election Commission of India.
• Candidate or any of his / her proposer should deliver the nomination paper to the Returning Officer (RO) or to the Assistant RO.
• Only an elector in the constituency in which the candidate contests the election, can be proposes.
• One proposer is needed for candidate from a recognised political party.
• 10 proposers are needed for independent or candidates from registered unrecognised political party.
• A candidate can file maximum 4 nominations for a constituency.
• Nomination paper can be filed on office hours or working days.

Negative Interest Rates

• Recently, Japan scrapped its negative interest rate policy.

What are negative interest rates?

• Negative interest rates mean borrowers get paid interest instead of lenders.
• Central banks charge commercial banks for holding extra cash.
• This happens when people save too much money during slow economic times.
• People save more because they think money will be worth more in the future.
• This can cause a big drop in demand and prices.
• To avoid paying fees, banks lend more money to businesses and people.
• Negative interest rates started in 2009 with the Swedish Riksbank.
• Other countries like Denmark, Switzerland, and Japan also use them.