UPSC PRELIMINARY MOCK TEST 3

The five major lines of latitude, more commonly referred to as the five major circles of latitude, mark specific points on a globe or map of Earth. Four of the lines run parallel to the equator and sit north or south above or below the equator.
* The Arctic Circle is located at approximately 66.5 degrees north latitude, or 66.5 degrees north of the equator. This circle of latitude stretches through eight countries, including the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
* The Antarctic Circle is located at approximately 66.5 degrees south Latitude, or 66.5 degrees south of the equator. This line, or circle, of latitude marks the start of the southern area known as the Antarctic. The circle consists of only one continent, Antarctica.
* The Equator or great circle is possibly the most well-known circle of latitude is the line sitting at zero degrees latitude, the equator. The equator circles the globe with a circumference of nearly 25,000 miles, dividing the northern and the southern hemispheres. This line of latitude is the starting point when referring to other points of the globe in terms of degrees north and degrees south.

* The Tropic of Cancer is located at approximately 23.5 degrees north latitude, or 23.5 degrees north of the Equator. This line of latitude is the northern boundary of the area referred to as the tropics. During the summer solstice the sun is located immediately above the Tropic of Cancer. This line is the point farthest to the north at which the sun is hanging directly upward at noon.
* The Tropic of Capricorn is located at approximately 23.5 degrees south Latitude, or 23.5 degrees south of the equator. This line of latitude is the southern boundary of the area referred to as the tropics. This line marks the point farthest to the south at which the sun is hanging directly upward at noon. During the summer solstice of the Southern Hemisphere, the sun is located immediately above the Tropic of Capricorn. "

India has been ranked 60th out of 130 nations on the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2017. The 2017 index highlighted the continual improvement of India in terms of investment, tertiary education, quality of its publications and universities, its ICT services exports and innovation clusters. Among India's neighbors, Sri Lanka has acquired 90th spot, Nepal 109th, Pakistan 113th and Bangladesh 114th spot. The list is topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden and the Netherlands. The theme of the 2017 Index is "Innovation Feeding the World" that focuses on innovation in agriculture and food systems. The index is co-authored by Cornell University, INSEAD and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

• Currently, there are multiple mobile applications by Indian Railways to cater various passenger requirements including onboard cleaning. Most of the apps cater to one service only. To use different services, users need to search and download each application separately. In order to provide better customer experience, there is a need for an integrated application which will give a single window interface for these services.
• Inline with the above concept, Minister of Railways had announced integration of all existing ticketing digital solutions under one App in his Budget Speech 2016-17.
• Rail SAARTHI is an app under development to integrate 8 independent mobile applications of the IR.

PIB ; "

The Supreme Court in recent have completely struck down Section 497 which deals with adultery law . However, with regard to Section 377 it has been partially struck down .
The judgment striking down adultery law is especially significant considering that this is only the second time in 158 years that an IPC provision has been completely struck down, and not just read down, like in the case of Section 377 .

Adultery Law Judgement

Under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Adultery was an offence and a convict could be sentenced to five-year-jail term. Section defined adultery as an offence committed by a man against a married man if the former engaged in sexual intercourse with the latter's wife.

Section- 377 Judgement

Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. versus Union of India thr. Secretary Ministry of Law and Justice is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of India in 2018 that decriminalised all consensual sex among adults in private, including homosexual sex

It was held that Section 377 violated Article 14 (equal protection of laws), 15(1) (non-discrimination on grounds of sex), 19(1)(a) (freedom of expression) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) .

National Security Council (NSC) is a three-tiered organization that oversees political, economic, energy and security issues of strategic concern. It comprises the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and a secretariat from the Joint Intelligence Committee. Members of NSAB are usually senior retired officials, civilian as well as military, academics and distinguished members of civil society drawn from and having expertise in Internal and External Security, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Science & Technology and Economic Affairs. NSC operates within the executive office of the Prime Minister of India. The National Security Advisor presides over the NSC.