Insights Revision Through MCQs – 30 October 2019

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Swami Vivekananda (1863 –1902), was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna.
• He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century.
• He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India.
• Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
• He is perhaps best known for his speech which began with the words – “Sisters and brothers of America …,” in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago in 1893.
• Paramahansa Yogananda (1893- 1952)
  • He is considered as the “Father of Yoga in the West.”

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/paramahansa-yogananda/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Expressing concern over poor attendance in legislatures and quality of debate, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday came up with a 15-point reform charter for a new ‘political normal’ to enable effective functioning of parliamentary institutions in the country.
• The 15-point charter includes:
  • Parties need to ensure attendance of at least 50% of their legislators all through the proceedings of the Houses by adopting a roster system.
  • Review of anti-defection law.
  • Review of the whip system which is “stifling reasonable dissent even on non-consequential matters”.
  • Set up special courts for time-bound adjudication of criminal complaints against legislators.
  • Pre and post legislative impact assessment.
  • Address problem of rising number of legislators with criminal background.
  • Governments should be responsive to opposition and opposition to be responsible and constructive while resorting to available parliamentary instruments
  • Consensus on the proposal for simultaneous elections.
  • Steps should be taken for the effective functioning of the Parliamentary Committees.
  • The representation of women in legislatures needs to be raised.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/15-point-reform-charter-for-better-functioning-of-parliament/

Ans: (d)

• CSR refers to the idea that companies need to invest in socially and environmentally relevant causes in order to interact and operate with concerned parties having a stake in the company’s work. CSR is termed as “Triple-Bottom-Line-Approach”, which is meant to help the company promote its commercial interests along with the responsibilities it holds towards the society at large
• India is the first country in the world to make corporate social responsibility (CSR) mandatory, following an amendment to the Companies Act, 2013 in April 2014. Businesses can invest their profits in areas such as education, poverty, gender equality, and hunger as part of any CSR compliance.
• CSR is compulsory for all companies- government or private
• NEED OF CSR
  • CSR is responsible for generating a lot of goodwill to companies either directly or indirectly. These include[5]-
  • Making employees more loyal and help companies retain them in the long run.
  • Make companies more legitimate and help them in accessing a greater market share.
  • Since companies act ethically, they face less legal hurdles.
  • Bolster the goodwill of companies amongst the general public and help in strengthening their “brand value”.
  • Help in the stabilization of stock markets in both the short and long run
  • Help in limiting state’s involvement in corporate affairs as companies self-regulate and act as most ethical.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/corporate-social-responsibility/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) Committee, which was constituted to lay out the ‘building blocks’ for the implementation of the National Health Stack (NHS), submitted the final report on Tuesday. The report was submitted by committee’s chairman J Satyanarayanam, who was earlier chairman of UIDAI.
• A new entity, National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), is recommended to be established as a purely government organization with complete functional autonomy on the lines of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Goods and Services Network GSTN.
• The Objectives of NDHB are aligned to the Vision of National Health Policy 2017 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to the health sector.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/national-digital-health-blueprint-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Dirac metals differ from normal metals in that the energy carried depends linearly on the momentum of the transfer medium. This difference is responsible for their unique properties. The velocities of the energy carriers can be over a100 times more than normal metals, thus increasing the mobility and currents that can be carried across devices made of these so-called Dirac materials.
• Research has discovered special properties in a class of materials called “semi-Dirac metals”. Examples of semi-Dirac metals are systems such as TiO2/V2O3 nanostructures.
• A very high optical conductivity of semi-Dirac materials for electromagnetic waves [light waves] of a specific frequency and specific polarization has been observed. Optical conductivity is a measure of the opacity offered by the material to the passage of light through it.
• Semi-Dirac materials can display such thermoelectric properties. Thermoelectricity is a clean energy technology that uses waste heat to produce electricity typically in low power applications.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/dirac-metals/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Edge computing—also known as just “edge”—brings processing close to the data source, and it does not need to be sent to a remote cloud or other centralized systems for processing. By eliminating the distance and time it takes to send data to centralized sources, we can improve the speed and performance of data transport, as well as devices and applications on the edge.
• Fog computing is a standard that defines how edge computing should work, and it facilitates the operation of compute, storage and networking services between end devices and cloud computing data centers. Additionally, many use fog as a jumping-off point for edge computing.
• Fog computing, a term created by Cisco, also refers to extending computing to the edge of the network. Cisco introduced its fog computing in January 2014 as a way to bring cloud computing capabilities to the edge of the network.
• In essence, fog is the standard, and edge is the concept. Fog enables repeatable structure in the edge computing concept, so enterprises can push compute out of centralized systems or clouds for better and more scalable performance.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/edge-computing/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

Refer: Facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/30/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-30-october-2019/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Nagaland is a state in northeastern India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to the north, Myanmar to the east, and Manipur to the south.
• The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur. It has an area of 16,579 square kilometres (6,401 sq mi) with a population of 1,980,602 per the 2011 Census of India, making it one of the smallest states of India.
• English is the official language & the language of education. Nagaland is one of three states in India where the population is mostly Christian
• Nagaland became the 16th state of India on 1 December 1963. Agriculture is the most important economic activity and the principal crops include rice, corn, millets, pulses, tobacco, oilseeds, sugarcane, potatoes, and fibres, which covers 70% of the state’s economy. Other significant economic activity includes forestry, tourism, insurance, real estate, and miscellaneous cottage industries.

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Curzon took a serious view of the fall in the standard of education and discipline in the educational institutions.
• In his view the universities had degenerated into factories for producing political revolutionaries.
• To set the educational system in order, he instituted in 1902, a Universities Commission to go into the entire question of university education in the country.
• On the basis of the findings and recommendations of the Commission, Curzon brought in the Indian Universities Act of 1904, which brought all the universities in India under the control of the government.

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Sir John Shore followed a policy of non-intervention in the affairs of the native states and adopted a policy of strict neutrality.