1) Parliament Sessions: Constitution of India does not mention the term “Special Session”.
- Term sometimes refers to sessions government has convened for specific occasions.
- Article 85 mandates that Parliament should meet at least twice a year (gap between two sessions should not exceed six months).
- By convention, Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
- However, provision does not prevent summoning of Parliament more often and these extra sessions are referred to as special sessions.
- Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs determines date and duration of parliamentary sessions.
- President then summons MPs for the session
2) Poll Expenditure: Declaring Candidates for assembly election weeks before polls announcement has exposed gaps in Election Commission (EC) poll expenditure monitoring rules.
- Rules stipulate accounting of candidates’ spending from date of their nomination and not even announcement of polls.
- According to Section 77(1) of Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951, candidates are expected to keep an account of expenditure from date on which he/she has been nominated till date of declaration of result.
- Spending more than maximum limit of election expenses is regarded as a corrupt practice under section 123(6) of RPA, 1951
3) AYUSH Public Health Programmes: Union Ayush Minister has called for strengthening of existing Ayush health programs namely:
- AYURVIDYA: It aims to promote Healthy Lifestyle through AYUSH for School Children in 75000 Schools.
- SUPRAJA: It aims to provide maternal & neonatal Intervention for both the foetus and mother.
- VAYO MITRA: It aims to provide Geriatric Healthcare Services to the elderly.
- KARUNYA: It aims to provide palliative services
4) Honeybee: Study showed that Honeybees can be used as biomonitors (organisms that signify the quality of environment around them) to trace Antimicrobial Resistance.
- Society: live in colonies headed by a queen.
- Types:
- Queen bee (heads the swarm and is the largest),
- Worker bee (female bee and has stings)
- Drone bee (Male bee and has no stings)
- Perform ‘Waggle dance’ to communicate between worker bees.
- Royal jelly, also called ‘bee milk’ secreted by worker bees, exclusively for feeding to develop a new queen bee
Places in News:
1) Sudan (Capital: Khartoum)
- UNHCR appealed for $1 billion to support Sudan (facing civil war).
- Political Boundaries
- Situated in north-eastern Africa.
- Bordered with Egypt, Libya, Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
- South Sudan was bifurcated from it in 2011.
- Sudan shares its maritime border with Saudi Arabia in Red Sea.
- Geographical Features:
- Highest Peak: Deriba Caldera (Jabel marra Mountain).
- Major River: Nile River (White Nile and Blue Nile merge in Khartoum).
- Major lakes: Kundi, Abyad and Turdat el-Rahad
