DAY – 20(InstaTest-20): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2020: Topic – International organisation & Government schemes, Subject-wise Test 19, Text book based Test 16, November-2019 CA

Solution: C

Global Solar Council is international non-profit association of the national, regional and international associations in solar energy and the world‘s leading corporations.

It was founded at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

The Global Solar Council is an International Coalition of more than 30 nations, utilising maximum solar energy which have decided to harness the renewable energy for the greater good.

Solution: A

Food Safety Mitra (FSM) scheme:

Food Safety Mitra (FSM) scheme for strengthening and scaling up ‘Eat Right India’ movement launched.

What is FSM scheme?

A scheme to support small and medium scale food businesses to comply with the food safety laws and facilitate licensing and registration, hygiene ratings and training.

Significance of the scheme:

Apart from strengthening food safety, this scheme would also create new employment opportunities for youth, particularly with food and nutrition background.

How it works?

Food Safety Mitras will be chosen. They undergo training and certification by FSSAI to do their work and get paid by food businesses for their services. “By motivating key players in the system who can reach out to people at large, we can reach out to each and every individual. We have to include every section of the society so that Eat Right India becomes a country wide movement.” Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare said at the function to commemorate World Food Day 2019, here today.  The theme for this day was ‘Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World’. To mark the occasion, Dr Harsh Vardhan also launched the ‘Food Safety Mitra (FSM)’ scheme, along with the ‘Eat Right Jacket’, and ‘Eat Right Jhola’ to strengthen food safety administration and scale up the ‘Eat Right India’ movement.

About Eat Right Movement:

It was launched by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The movement aims to cut down salt/sugar and oil consumption by 30% in three years. It also aims to engage and enable citizens to improve their health and well-being by making the right food choices.

Solution: C

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana:

The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One Scheme theme. It incorporates the best features of all previous schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings / weaknesses have been removed. The PMFBY will replace the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.

There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5%. The premium rates to be paid by farmers are very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if the balance premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has now been removed and farmers will get a claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smartphones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
PMFBY is a replacement scheme of NAIS / MNAIS, there will be exemption from Service Tax liability of all the services involved in the implementation of the scheme. It is estimated that the new scheme will ensure about 75-80 per cent of subsidy for the farmers in insurance premium.
Farmers to be covered

Recently, Enrolment under the Scheme is made voluntary for all farmers (Both PMFBY/RWBCIS).

Solution: B       

• Global Economic Prospects report is released by World Bank
• World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2019 is an annual United Nations’
  flagship publication on expected trends in the global economy.

Global Risk Report 2019 is released by World Economic Forum.

Solution: C

Participatory Guarantee System – India Portal:

Participatory Guarantee System is a process of certifying organic products which ensures agriculture production process in accordance with the standards laid down for organic products and that desired quality has been maintained.  This is exhibited in the form of documented logo or a statement. In order to promote domestic organic market growth and also to enable small and marginal farmer to have easy access to organic certification, a decentralized organic farming certification system called Participatory Guarantee System –India (PGS-India) is implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India.  It is cost effective, farmer- friendly and hassle-free.   It is outside the framework of third party system of certification, which is a pre-requisite to enter export market of organic produce.

It is a quality assurance initiative that is locally relevant with active participation of stakeholders including producers/farmers, traders and consumers in certification system.  This group certification system is supported by Paramaparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) scheme.   It in a way supports domestic demand for organic produce and trains the farmers in document management and adherence to other requirements of certification process and prepares him to opt for third party certification, if he wishes to go for export.

Solution: A

Jan Shikshan Sansthan (formerly known as Shramik Vidyapeeth) provide vocational skills to non-literate, neo-literates as well as school drop-outs by identifying skills that have a market in the region of their establishment.

The Scheme of Jan Shikshan Sansthan has been transferred from Ministry of Human Resource Development to Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in July-2018.

Target Group

• Socio-economically backward and educationally disadvantaged groups of rural/urban population.
• Main target include non-literate, neo-literates, person education upto 8th standard, school drop-outs, in the age group of 15-35 years.
• Priority given to women, SC, ST, OBC and Minorities in rural areas and urban slums.

Features

• Polyvalent approach takes into account; learning needs, convenience of place and time of learners and trainers.
• Course content, duration, methods, instructional arrangements and financial (CSR supported / Fee based trainings)
• Livelihood cell to be encouraged the beneficiaries for self and wage employment and linkages with national / state portal for promotion of employment and job melas etc.
• Courses having NSQF Compliant which has production, service and IT oriented.
• Life Enrichment Education part of Skill training programme. Digital Literacy and life skills are also incorporated across the course curriculum.
• Methodology of teaching includes theory, practical. Livelihood experience / apprenticeship, systematic evidence based internal assessment system, online certification, common branding.
• Training of trainers through National Skill Training Institutes
• Evaluation includes concurrent and terminal.
• Feed-back/success story Performa developed

Solution: D

The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ first appeared in the Constitution of India. Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”. Article 342, which is reproduced below, prescribes procedure to be followed in the matter of specification of scheduled tribes.

Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled tribes specified in a notification issued under clause(1) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid, a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.

The Scheduled Tribes are notified in 30 States/UTs and the number of individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as Scheduled Tribes is 705. The tribal population of the country, as per 2011 census, is 10.43 crore, constituting 8.6% of the total population. 89.97% of them live in rural areas and 10.03% in urban areas.

The decadal population growth of the tribal’s from Census 2001 to 2011 has been 23.66% against the 17.69% of the entire population. The sex ratio for the overall population is 940 females per 1000 males and that of Scheduled Tribes 990 females per thousand males.

More than two-third of the ST population is concentrated only in the seven States of the country, viz. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. There is no ST population in 3 States (Delhi NCR, Punjab and Haryana) and 2 UTs (Puducherry and Chandigarh), as no Scheduled Tribe is notified.

http://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/scheduled-tribes-welfare/ministry-of-tribal-welfare

Solution: B

The Government of India, has proposed the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM), aimed at developing such rural areas by provisioning of economic, social and physical infrastructure facilities.

The scheme is implemented by Ministry of Rural Development.

A ‘Rurban cluster’, would be a cluster of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and with a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas. As far as practicable, clusters of villages would follow administrative convergence units of Gram Panchayats and shall be within a single block/tehsil for administrative convenience.

The Mission aims at development of 300 Rurban clusters, in the next five years. These clusters would be strengthened with the required amenities, for which it is proposed that resources be mobilized through convergence of various schemes of the Government, over and above which a Critical Gap Funding (CGF) would be provided under this Mission, for focused development of these clusters.

Solution: D

Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL) is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Jal Shakti to improve ground water management through community participation. The scheme has a total outlay of Rs.6000 crore and is to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25).

Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL)is an initiative for ensuring long term sustainability of ground water resources in the country. The Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti is adopting a mix of ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up’ approaches in identified ground water stressed blocks in seven states, representing a range of geomorphic, climatic and hydrogeologic and cultural settings. ATAL JAL has been designed with the principal objective of strengthening the institutional framework for participatory ground water management and bringing about behavioral changes at the community level for sustainable ground water resource management. The scheme envisages undertaking this through various interventions, including awareness programmes, capacity building, convergence of ongoing/new schemes and improved agricultural practices etc.

Out of the total outlay of Rs. 6000 crore to be implemented over a period of 5 years (2020-21 to 2024-25), 50% shall be in the form of World Bank loan, and be repaid by the Central Government. The remaining 50% shall be through Central Assistance from regular budgetary support. The entire World Bank’s loan component and Central Assistance shall be passed on to the States as Grants.

Solution: A

Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin is known to occur within the Indian Ocean from South Africa to India. Indian Ocean humpbacked dolphins are social delphinids that live in groups.

Habitat: Species are among the most adaptive ones due to their habitat preference for shallow waters places them in some of the world’s most intensively utilised, fished, shipped, modified and polluted waters.

The species is currently categorized as endangered species and protected under Schedule I of the Wild life protection Act, 1972.

Solution: B

The next “Hunar Haat”, to be organised by Ministry of Minority Affairs from 13^th February, 2020 at India Gate Lawns, Rajpath, New Delhi will be based on the theme of “Kaushal Ko Kaam”.

Hunar Haat:

Organised by ministry of minority affairs under “USTTAD” scheme at different parts of the country.

It is an exhibition of handicrafts and traditional products made by artisans from the minority communities.

These Haat aim to provide market exposure and employment opportunities to artisans, craftsmen and traditional culinary experts.

Significance:

“Hunar Haat” have become a successful mission to provide employment and employment opportunities at national as well international markets for thousands of master artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts.

What is USTTAD SCHEME?

USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development) scheme aims to preserve heritage of traditional arts and crafts of minority communities and build capacity of traditional craftspersons and artisans and establish linkages of traditional skills with the global market.

Solution: C

KVIC is implementing following programmes for promotion and development of traditional industries viz. Beekeeping (Honey Mission) and Pottery Development Programme (KumharSashaktikaranProgramme):

1. Bee-Keeping (Honey Mission): KVIC launched Honey (Bee) Mission in July, 2017 for promoting Beekeeping and generating employment in the beekeeping potential States of the country.
2. Pottery Programme (KumharSashaktikaran):Under this programme KVIC identify the areas where clusters of traditional pottery workers are available and provide them training and electric pottery wheels and other tools like blunger, Pug Mill, etc.

Solution: C

India shares 106-km border, abutting Wakhan Corridor in PoK, with Afghanistan.

Solution: B

Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of State (I/C) for Housing and Urban Affairs today launched “angikaar” a campaign for change managementand e-Course on Vulnerability Atlas of India here today.

In line with the vision of  Prime Minister, Angikaar has been launched for social behaviour change, focusing on issues such as water & energy conservation, waste management, health, tree plantation, sanitation and hygiene for beneficiaries of completed houses under PMAY (U), through community mobilisation and IEC activities.For this purpose, the campaign will converge with schemes and Missions of other Ministries dealing with these subjects. The convergence would especially focus on Ujjwala for gas connection and Ayushman Bharat for health insurance to the beneficiaries of PMAY (U).

Under PMAY (U) about 88 lakh houses has been approved till now as against demand of 1.12 crore. The angikaar aims at reaching out all the beneficiaries of the Mission in phased manner. The campaign will be initiated in all target cities on 2^nd October 2019 commemorating 150^th Gandhi Jayanti after preparatory phase  and culminate on the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10^th December, 2019. The campaign will include door to door activities, ward and city level events.

The e-course on Vulnerability Atlas is offered by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in collaboration of School of Planning & Architecture (SPA), New Delhi and Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC). It is a unique course that offers awareness and understanding about natural hazards, helps identify regions with high vulnerability with respect to various hazards (earthquakes, cyclones, landslides, floods, etc.) and specifies district-wise level of damage risks to the existing housing stock.

Solution: D

At the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) we invest in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families and increase their incomes. We help them build resilience, expand their businesses and take charge of their own development.

IFAD is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency based in Rome, the UN’s food and agriculture hub. Since 1978, we have provided over US$21 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached about 491 million people.

IFAD is the only specialized global development organisation exclusively focused on and dedicated to transforming agriculture, rural economies and food systems. India is a member state to this organization

Solution: B

The Environment Ministry is undertaking a mass cleanliness-cum-awareness drive in 50 identified beaches under the “Swachh – Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan”.

About Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan:

• Launched by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
• Aim: To make beaches clean and create awareness amongst citizens about the importance of coastal ecosystems – in Beaches across 10 states / UTs.
• The campaign will be organized in the beaches after consultation with the state governments.
• Environment Education Division and Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM) under the Environment Ministry will be responsible for its implementation.
• At end of the drive, the best three beaches will be suitably awarded along with a certificate of appreciation for all the participating eco-clubs.
• The implementation of the drive will be monitored by the MoEF&CC officials.

Solution: A

International Energy Agency

The IEA is at the heart of global dialogue on energy, providing authoritative analysis, data, policy recommendations, and real-world solutions to help countries provide secure and sustainable energy for all.

The IEA was created in 1974 to help co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in the supply of oil. While oil security this remains a key aspect of our work, the IEA has evolved and expanded significantly since its foundation.

World energy investment report is released by IEA.

India is an associate member of IEA.

Solution: D

The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments pressures. It was established in 2015 by the BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Solution: B

The government has said it is pushing Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to make progress on the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project.

What’s the issue?

The ₹18,000-crore project has been mired in several hurdles. The most recent one is a disagreement between the States on the share of water. There are outstanding environmental obstructions too. It involves deforesting a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve.

About Ken- Betwa project:

• Conceived as a two-part project, this is the country’s first river interlinking project. It is perceived as a model plan for similar interstate river transfer missions.
• The project aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken river in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the drought-prone Bundelkhand region spread across the districts of two states mainly Jhansi, Banda,Lalitpur and Mahoba districts of UP and Tikamgarh, Panna and Chhatarpur districts of MP.

Key facts:

• Ken and Betwa rivers originate in MP and are the tributaries of Yamuna.
• Ken meets with Yamuna in Banda district of UP and with Betwa in Hamirpur district of UP.
• Rajghat, Paricha and Matatila dams are over Betwa River.
• Ken River passes through Panna tiger reserve.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/25/ken-betwa-river-interlinking-project/

Solution: B

International Criminal Court

​The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again.

​​The Court cannot reach these goals alone. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).

Solution: C

Trachischium apteii:

• It is a newly discovered snake species from Arunachal Pradesh.
• It was found in Tally Valley Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It belongs to a group of fossorial (adapted to digging) snakes that live mostly underground, and surface mainly during or after a heavy monsoon shower.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/28/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-28-november-2019/

Solution: B

The International Press Institute (IPI) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation. Oversight of IPI’s activities is carried out on various levels. The General Assembly and the Executive Board are the organisation’s highest governing bodies. IPI’s day-to-day work is conducted by a professional secretariat in Vienna headed by an executive director. In some countries, National Committees formed by IPI members assist in carrying out the organisation’s work at the national level. The International Press Institute (IPI) is a global network of editors, journalists and media executives who share a common dedication to quality, independent journalism. Together, we promote the conditions that allow journalism to fulfill its public function, the most important of which is the media’s ability to operate free from interference and without fear of retaliation. Our mission is to defend media freedom and the free flow of news wherever they are threatened.

Solution: D

Sisseri River Bridge:

• Recently, the Defence Minister inaugurated the Sisseri River Bridgelocated at lower Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The 200m long bridge provides connectivity between Dibang Valley and Siang.
• The bridge was constructed by ‘Project Brahmank’ of Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
• This bridge is strategically important from the military viewpoint and will be a part of Trans Arunachal Highway.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/16/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-16-november-2019/

Solution: B

A National Council for Senior Citizens, headed by the will be constituted by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

With tenure of five years, the Council will monitor the implementation of the policy and advise the government on concerns of senior citizens. A similar body would be established in every state with the concerned minister heading the State Council for Senior Citizens.

• The Council would include representatives of relevant central ministries, the Planning Commission and ten states by rotation.
• Representatives of senior citizens associations from every state and Union Territory.
• Representatives of NGOs, academia, media and experts on ageing.
• The council would meet once in six months.

Solution: C

The 2019 Brown to Green Report has been published by the Climate Transparency partnership, an international research collaboration. The report is the most comprehensive review of G20 countries’ climate performance, mapping achievements and drawbacks in their efforts to reduce emissions, adapt to climate impacts and green the financial system.

Key findings:

• Carbon emissions from the world’s 20 biggest economies, including India, are rising.
• None of the G20 countries have plans that will help them achieve the target. Many of the current 2030 climate targets under the Paris Agreement (Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs) are too weak, with about half of the G20 countries projected to meet or overachieve their inadequate NDCs.
• Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in G20 countries shot up by 1.8 per cent in 2018 due to rising energy demand.
• Energy supply is not getting cleaner: despite a more than five per cent rise in G20 total renewable energy supply in 2018, the share of fossil fuels in the G20 energy mix remains at 82 per cent.
• While renewables now account for 25.5 per cent of power generation, this is not sufficient to outweigh the growth of emissions from fossil fuel sources.
• Low-carbon fuels need to increase roughly 10 times by 2050 to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• G20 emissions in the building sector grew more than in any other sector in 2018 (4.1 per cent). Retrofitting existing buildings challenges all G20 and especially OECD countries. New buildings have to be near zero-energy by 2020-25 to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees.

Solution: A

We know that,
1 kg = 1000 gm
Profit percent= [(1000 – 960)/960] * 100
= (40/960) * 100
= 25/6 %

Solution: D

Let the cost price be x.

Selling price = Rs 16500

Profit percentage = 10 %

Selling Price= (110/100) * x

Or 16500 = 11x/10

Or x= 16500 * 10/11

Or x = 1500 * 10 = 15000

Solution: B

Effective cost price = Cost Price (Ramesh bought) + Transportation Cost

= Rs. 1215 + Rs. 35 = 1250
He needs 16 % profit on the cost price.
Selling Price, S.P = [(100 + Gain%) / 100] * C.P
=[(100 + 16) / 100] * 1250
= [116/100] * 1250
= 1450

Solution: B

Effective Cost Price= Cost price + Repair Price

= 1200 + 300

= 1500

Selling price = Rs 1800

Therefore, profit amount = (Rs 1800 – Rs 1500) =  Rs 300

Thus, profit percent = (300/1500) * 100

Or 100/5 = 20 %

Solution: A

Explanation:

B is essential as a part of the argument as the ‘super’ and ‘sub’ human beings refers to the ‘few select citizens’ and the ‘excluded ones’.

C is essential as a part of the argument as the second sentence clearly says this.

D is essential as the recognition of disparities in individual capacities leads to the exclusion policies.