QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 12 April 2018

Solution: a.

Changes introduced:

• Addition of certain IPC offences that attract punishment of less than 10 years and committed against members of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe, as offences punishable under the PoA Act. Presently (in the original act), only those offences listed in IPC as attracting punishment of 10 years or more and committed on members of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe are accepted as offences falling under the PoA Act.
• Establishment of Exclusive Special Courts and specification of Exclusive Special Public Prosecutors also, to exclusively try the offences under the PoA Act to enable speedy and expeditious disposal of cases.
• Power of Special Courts and Exclusive Special Courts, to take direct cognizance of offence.
• Addition of chapter on the ‘Rights of Victims and Witnesses’. It introduces the provision of witness protection.
• Defining clearly the term ‘wilful negligence’ of public servants at all levels, starting from the registration of complaint, and covering aspects of dereliction of duty under this Act.
• Addition of presumption to the offences –If the accused was acquainted with the victim or his family, the court will presume that the accused was aware of the caste or tribal identity of the victim unless proved otherwise.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/expanding-the-scst-act/article23448695.ece;

Last paragraph: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rajnath-singh-appeals-for-peace-harmony/article23428327.ece;

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=135764;

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Solution: c.

• UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal; http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=178451): The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM; it aims to provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.
• Aarambh (http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=168904): Mobile app for rural roads maintenance (Ministry of Rural Development, NOT of Road Transport and Highways).
• SEVA (Saral Eindhan Vitaran Application; Ministry of Coal; http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=162042): For power sector consumers, it is aimed at increasing the Consumer Connect as well as the Transparency and Accountability in Coal dispatch. By using this app the common man would be able to hold the Government accountable for the coal linkage allocations and would be able to check any pilferage or inefficiencies in coal consumption for power generation.
• UMANG (MEITY; http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=173780): It is a single mobile app to access 1200+ services of various government services from Centre, State and utility services.

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Solution: b.

• The Biological Diversity Act (2002) mandates implementation of the provisions of the Act through decentralized system with the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) focusing on advising the Central Government on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of biological resources (the same function at the state level is the responsibility of State Biodiversity Boards or SBBs); and advising the State Governments in the selection of areas of biodiversity importance to be notified as heritage sites and measures for their management.
• The SSBs also regulate, by granting of approvals or otherwise upon requests for commercial utilization or bio-survey and bio-utilization of any biological resource by the Indians.
• The local level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are responsible for promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity including preservation of habitats, conservation of land races, folk varieties and cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds of animals and microorganisms and chronicling of knowledge relating to biological diversity.

http://nbaindia.org/content/22/2/1/aboutnba.html;

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-register-by-the-people/article23495949.ece;

Solution: d.

Coalbed Methane (CBM), an unconventional source of natural gas is now considered as an alternative source for augmenting India’s energy resource. India has the fifth largest proven coal reserves in the world and thus holds significant prospects for exploration and exploitation of CBM.

• In order to harness CBM potential in the country, the Government of India formulated CBM policy in 1997 wherein CBM being Natural Gas is explored and exploited under the provisions of OIL Fields (Regulation & Development) Act 1948 (ORD Act 1948) and Petroleum & Natural Gas Rules 1959 (P&NG Rules 1959) administered by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
• 
  The Gondwana sediments of eastern India host the bulk of India’s coal reserves and all the current CBM producing blocks. The vast majority of the best prospective areas for CBM development are in eastern India, situated in Damodar Koel valley and Son valley.

http://www.dghindia.org/index.php/page?pageId=38;

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=178584;

Solution: a.

The 2018 Partners’ Forum will be held in New Delhi on 12 and 13 December 2018. It will be a unique platform for learning and exchange for the alliance of 1,000 organizations to align objectives, strategies and resources, and agree on interventions to improve maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.

• The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health is an alliance of organisations in 77 countries from the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health communities, as well as health influencing sectors.
• The PMNCH Partners’ Forum serves as a regular global platform for the renewal of commitment to the mission and purpose of the Partnership, for global high level advocacy and for achieving broad consensus on the strategy and priorities of the Partnership. Participation at the Forum comes from all constituencies and members of the Partnership.
• A Partners’ Forum has earlier been hosted by India in 2010.

http://www.who.int/pmnch/about/partner_forum/en/;

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=178604;

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=178600;

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