25th Oct Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam

Removal of Election Commissioners

• A petition was filed in the Supreme Court pointing out the vagueness in the procedure for removal of Election Commissioners.
• Election commission of India, a constitutional body is headed by a Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners.
• They are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of PM and Council of Ministers.
• CEC and EC have tenure of six years or hold office till the age of 65 years and receive salary and other allowances similar to the Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
• Though they are appointed in a similar manner with equal tenure and salary, their removal process varies.
• According to the Article 324 (5), CEC can be removed only by the order of the President, just like a judge of the Supreme Court.
• But the provision is silent about the procedure for the removal of EC and only provides that ECs cannot be removed except on the recommendation of CEC.
• Petitioner has alleged that this kind of discrimination will create ambiguity and affects the autonomy of the office.

SAATHI Initiative

• SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries) is a new initiative by Ministry of Power and Textiles.
• Under this, a public sector entity Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), would procure energy efficient powerlooms and other kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium powerloom units at no upfront cost.
• The initiative will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office of the Textile Commissioner.

Diclofenac

• Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) applied to reduce inflammation and pain in certain conditions.
• It leads to renal failure in vultures damaging their excretory system due to consumption of carcasses of livestock and cattle injected with Diclofenac.
• Gyps species of vulture were affected the most which include White backed vulture, slender billed vulture and long billed vulture.
• All the three vultures belong to Critically Endangered Category in IUCN red list.
• The replacement drug to diclofenac was proposed called as Meloxicam.
• NSAID - A drug class that groups together drugs that reduce pain, decrease fever, and, in higher doses, decrease inflammation.

Banning of Diclofenac

• The government has imposed ban the veterinary use of diclofenac in 2006.
• However, the ban does not cover the usage of the drug for humans. It leads to chances of diverting the drug to cattle.
• Union Health Ministry in its 2015 notification has banned the sale of drugs in multiple doses to avoid the diversion of drugs.
• This ban was challenged by the pharmaceutical companies in the Madras High Court.
• The court has recently refused to interfere in the government’s notification and dismissed the writ petition.

Thumri

• It is a musical form like dhrupad, khayal in Hindustani Classical Music.
• It is termed as 'semi' or 'light' classical and is very lyrical in its structure and presentation.
• The musical grammar is not strictly adhered to and is based on less-weighty or mixed ragas.
• This musical form exists in both its vocal and instrumental forms.
• The themes are predominantly romantic, particularly focussing on the separation of lovers and the pranks of Lord Krishna as a playful lover.

Other Musical Forms in Hindustani

• Dhrupad – It emphasis more on strict adherence to raga and systematized arrangement of musical parts.
• It usually covers themes such as religion, philosophy, devotion and praise of deities, patrons, and celebration of seasons.
• Khayal – The word “khayal” means imagination or conception.
• It is more lyrical than Dhrupad and its form is free in adherence to strict ragas.
• It covers diverse topics such as divine love, separation of lovers, seasons, and praise of kings, patrons and the pranks of Lord Krishna.

INS Sukanya

• The Sukanya-class patrol vessels are large, offshore patrol craft in active service with the Indian Navy.
• Currently there are 3 lead ships under this class – INS Sukanya, Subhadra and Suvarna.
• INS Sukanya has recently participated in the bilateral exercise CORPAT (Coordinated Patrol) between India and Indonesia.
• The exercise is aimed to foster closer maritime ties with countries located on the rim of the Indian Ocean.

Bharatmala Pariyojana

• The government has launched a new umbrella programme to give a push for road construction plans nationwide.
• All future road projects such as economic corridors and coastal roads have been brought under its aegis.
• The other projects under the scheme include roads providing international connectivity, border roads, roads connecting economically important nodes, green field expressways and the remaining National Highways Development Project (NHDP) works.

Source: PIB, The Hindu