Prashant Mavani, is an expert in current affairs analysis and holds a MSc in Management from University of Surrey (U.K.). Above all he is a passionate teacher.

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• Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, who, at 31, is set to become Austria’s Chancellor and the youngest head of government in Europe.

• Whiz kid, for changing the face and fortunes of his party

• Mr. Kurz has used his youth, as did some of his counterparts in other countries, to attract voters and reinvent a political party.

• A second pattern from Sunday’s results is the alarming growth of right-wing populism across the world and in Europe, including in Germany last month, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gained a foothold in the Bundestag.

• The FPO, which has an anti-Islam and anti-immigrant platform, has capitalised on the fears of Austrians, many of whom are wary of the influx of migrants into Europe.

• The party was at the forefront of the campaign to ban face coverings, a prohibition that took effect earlier this month.

• It wants Austria to join the Visegrád group of central European countries whose non-liberal values are posing a strain on its relations with western European Union colleagues. www.studyiq.com

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• FPO could insist Austria joins the Visegrad group, a four-nation alliance of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia that is opposed to immigration, as a condition of forming a coalition.

• The Visegrad leaders have previously refused migrant quotas approved by a western-dominated majority of European Union member states.

• And they also reject proposed EU reforms that would transfer more power from national governments to Brussels institutions.

• Schengen Agreement: concept for free movement between the European countries• France and Germany are the two pioneering countries to take initial step

• The gradual abolishment of the internal borders between countries and an extended control of the external borders, was only signed on 14 June 1985.

• 26 countries

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• Even though there is no evidence of their efficacy, alternative remedies such as papaya-leaf juice for dengue find many takers during epidemics.

• While it is hard for government bodies to curb such practices, what they must never do is to endorse them.

• One of the several ingredients of nilavembu kudineer comes from a plant called Andrographis paniculata, which appears in herbal medicine systems across South Asia.

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• In the 21st century, the Internet has assumed an increasingly important place in our lives. • From banking to political speech, and from complex medical procedures to the purchase of

basic necessities, important aspects of our economic, social, and cultural life now depend upon the Internet.

• Many of the fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution — the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of association, the freedom of trade —are exercised in significant part on the Internet.

• Just like the government may cut-off water supply to prevent protests, the government may — and actually does — cut-off Internet access for purposes as comically diverse as preventing violent protests (Kashmir) and cheating in exams (Gujarat).

• In an article published in May 2016, Apar Gupta and Raman Chima pointed out that with 37 Internet shutdowns, triggered by 11 States over a two-year period, India had attained the dubious distinction of joining Iraq in “reporting the highest number of incidents involving government mandated shutdown of Internet access” — with serious consequences both for civil rights, and for business.

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• Supreme Court has often insisted that the state’s rights-infringing action must be “proportionate”: that is, there ought to be no greater invasion of the individual’s right than what is strictly necessary to achieve the state’s goal.

• Just like the police must present an individual before a court within 24 hours if they want to keep her in custody, the government must, by law, subject Internet shutdowns to judicial scrutiny as soon as reasonably possible. • Courts must take into account the exceptional character of Internet shutdowns and their

impact on core civil liberties before validating them.

• The notion that the government must have the ability to control the Internet in order to preserve law and order is an intuitively attractive one. • However, like many other intuitively attractive ideas, the concentration of more power in

the hands of the government will only further disempower the individual against the state, and achieve a temporary illusion of security at the cost of a permanent loss of freedom.

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• The position of the Indian Speaker is paradoxical.

• The holder of the position, whether in Parliament or in State Assemblies, • Contests the election for the post on a party ticket

• Yet is expected to conduct himself or herself in a non-partisan manner, all the while being beholden to the party for a ticket for the next election.

• We need greater clarity in the interpretations associated with the Anti-Defection Law.

• Consider the example of Ireland, a parliamentary system close to ours, where the position of Speaker is given to someone who has built up credibility by relinquishing his or her political ambitions.

• The Westminster system considers it a taboo to induct a Speaker into the cabinet.

• The Page Committee, headed by V.S. Page, suggested that if the Speaker had conducted himself or herself in an impartial and efficient manner during the tenure of his or her office, he or she should be allowed to continue in the next Parliament.

• As a democracy, we must condition ourselves to expecting and promoting neutrality in the Speaker.

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• The single-most important success of the #MeToo online campaign is that it is breaking this age-old stigma.

• More than half a million women have spoken up on Twitter and Facebook. It may have been difficult earlier to come by people who have been abused; now it seems like there are few women who haven’t been groped, assaulted, or raped.

• Online activism is not to be seen as an end it itself.

• We witnessed the power of the medium in the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the jallikattu protests. What began online spilled on to the streets — and how!

• Can we use social media not only as a medium but also as a toolto translate conversations into a call for action? The answer is yes

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Northeast monsoon may set in by October-end

• As the Southwest monsoon recedes, attention is focussed on the potential of the Northeast monsoon to make up for the deficit this year in some parts of the peninsular States, particularly Tamil Nadu.

• The winter monsoon is likely to have a delayed onset, around the last week of October.

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‘Centre taking steps to formalise gold trade’

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today launched gold options trading on the leading commodity bourse MCX.

• This is one of the steps towards formalising trade in the yellow metal.

• Options are derivatives which give a buyer the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specific price on or before a certain date.

• Mr Jaitley emphasised that the government is making efforts to formalise gold trade.

• He said, this is the first product for options trading that the regulator SEBI has allowed after 14 years of commencement of commodity exchanges in the country.

• The gold options contract launched today allows trading in 1 kg gold.

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65 AYUSH hospitals in three years

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, Ayurveda experts need to find medicines that give immediate relief to patients and keep side effects at bay.

• Inaugurating the first All India Institute of Ayurveda in New Delhi on the occasion of the 2nd Ayurveda Day, he urged private players to use corporate social responsibility funds to strengthen Ayurveda.

• He said the government has allowed 100 per cent FDI in health care.

• Mr Modi said, investors should also come forward to promote Yoga and Ayurveda.

• The Prime Minister said, preventive health care, as well as affordability and accessibilityare the government's main focus in the health sector.

• Mr Modi said, like the IT revolution a few years ago, time has come for a health revolution under the aegis of Ayurveda.

• He said, world is searching for a holistic medical system and Yoga and Ayurveda taken together can offer a solution.

• The Prime Minister said there should be an Ayurveda hospital in every district of the country. www.studyiq.com

Banning diesel generators

• Environment Pollution Control Authority has banned diesel generator sets in Delhi and ordered closure of Badarpur thermal power plant in the national capital to control air pollution in the city.

• Environment Pollution Control Authority chairman Bhure Lal and member SunitaNarain announced the decision following a review meeting in New Delhi.

• Ms Narain said, if air pollution aggravates further and in case it touches alarming proportions, cars will have to be off the roads.

• She said, vehicle parking fee may have to be hiked in Delhi if required.

• Delhi Police has registered 21 cases so far in connection with illegal sale of firecrackers in the national capital.

• The Supreme court in its order has temporarily banned sale of firecrackers in Delhi and national capital region (NCR) till 31st of this month.

• Two Delhi Police personnel have also been suspended for allegedly failing to check the sale of firecrackers in their beat areas. www.studyiq.com

U.S.-backed forces wrest Raqqafrom IS

• A US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters says, it has taken full control of Islamic State's one-time capital of Raqqa.

• Syrian Democratic Forces spokesman, Talal Sello, said, the fighting is over after a five-month assault.

• He said, clearing operations are now under way to uncover any militant sleeper cells and remove landmines.

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Sawfish more threatened than tigers, say scientists• The sawfish, included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife

(Protection) Act 1972 enacted to save them from exploitation, have been sighted off the Indian coast less than 10 times in over a decade and they appear to be more threatened than tigers and elephants, say marine scientists as the world observed the 1st Sawfish Day on Tuesday.

• Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute here on Monday said the sawfish may be the most endangered fish species in India.

• There are only five species of the sawfish ever identified —dwarf sawfish, knifetooth sawfish, smalltooth sawfish, largetooth sawfish and green sawfish.

• Sawfish are elasmobranchs, meaning their skeleton is made of cartilage. They are closely related to sharks and have shark-shaped bodies and, hence, are also called flat sharks.

• ‘Endangered’ or ‘Critically Endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Global Red List

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Questions

1. What is/are the main reason/s behind the change of the name SAARC Satellite into South Asia Satellite?

2. Why Kesavananda Bharti case of 1973 is considered as a major milestone in the Constitutional history of India.

3. Name the author of the book Never Let Me Go.

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