UPSC Prelims Bits For Today 24-August-2022

”UPSC Prelims Bits For Today” is every day published in the morning between 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and contains selective current affairs articles. ”UPSC Prelims Bits For Today” covers various topics from UPSC Prelims Syllabus and is very helpful and time managing for UPSC Aspirants. The framing of this daily current affairs compilation article is easy to read and understandable also.

In the ”UPSC Prelims Bits For Today” article, we focus on UPSC Preliminary exam-oriented current affairs covering various sections from leading National Newspapers, PIB, and other various official sources.

SC declares Benami Transactions(Prohibition)Act 2016 as unconstitutional

Why in news?

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the amended Benami Act, which came into effect on November 1, 2016, applied only prospectively, besides declaring “unconstitutional” one of the provisions of the law dealing with a three-year jail term and a penalty.

Key Changes with this verdict

• Actions taken between Sept 1988 and Oct 2016 under Benami law quashed
• Section 3(2) of the unamended 1988 Act is unconstitutional for being manifestly arbitrary.
• Gaps left in the 1988 Act were not merely procedural, but were “essential and substantive”
• In the absence of substantive provisions, the omissions create a law which is “fanciful and oppressive” at the same time
• In Dec 2019, the Calcutta HC had ruled against retrospective nature of law.

Black Swan Event

What is a black swan event?

• A Black Swan is a rare, catastrophic event that hits the stock market and causes it to crash, unleashing terrible losses for investors.
• These events are said to have three distinguishing characteristics – they are extremely rare and outside the realm of regular expectations; they have a severe impact after they hit; and they seem probable in hindsight when plausible explanations appear.
• The black swan theory was put forward by author and investor Nassim Nicholas Taleb in 2001, and later popularised in his 2007 book – The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

NASA’s Voyager 2

Know about NASA’s Voyager 2

• Over 45 years ago, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft left Earth to embark on a journey to the outer planets and beyond. The journey continues to this day.
• Voyager 2, the first of two spacecraft part of the mission, lifted off on August 20, 1977, taking advantage of a rare planetary alignment to use the gravity of one planet to propel itself to another.
• Even though the Voyager mission only targeted Jupiter and Saturn, Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune as well. Voyager 1 was launched on September 5 of the same year.

Mandala Art

About Mandala Art

• Mandala patterns are a centuries-old motif that are used to depict the cosmos, and have been adapted by artists the world over.
• In Hinduism, the mandala imagery first appeared in Rig Veda (1500 – 500 BCE).
• It is believed to be rooted in Buddhism, appearing in the first century BC in India. Over the next couple centuries, Buddhist missionaries travelling along the silk road took it to other regions.
• By the sixth century, mandalas have been recorded in China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Tibet. In Hinduism, the mandala imagery first appeared in Rig Veda (1500 – 500 BCE).
• By the sixth century, mandalas have been recorded in China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Tibet.
• While it continues to appear in thangka paintings, it has a central place in the practice of mainstream artists associated with the tantric and neo-tantric spiritual movements.

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