DAY – 24 ( INSTA REVISION TEST)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2020

Solution: D

Dustlik 2019 is the first India-Uzbekistan Joint Exercise. The bilateral exercise will beconducted at Chirchiq Training Area near Tashkent and will be focused on counterterrorism, in which “the two countries share a common concern.

http://newsonair.com/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=373960

Solution: B

Happy Seeder (HS) or Turbo Happy Seeder (THS) is a tractor-operated machine developed by the PAU in collaboration with Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), for in-situ management of paddy stubble (straw).

“Happy Seeder”is one of the unique technique which is used for sowing wheat without any burning of rice residue.

While it was developed in 2002, the PAU officially recommended it to farmers in 2005-06 and it made to the markets in 2006. Currently, it costs around Rs 1.50 to 1.60 lakh and is manufactured by different companies. The agriculture department gives 80 per cent subsidy to farmer groups and 50 per cent subsidy to individual farmers. It is not highly expensive.

After harvesting the paddy field using a combined harvester fitted with Super-SMS (Straw Management System) equipment, which chops and evenly spreads the stubble in the field, farmers can directly sow wheat seeds using Happy Seeder with the stubble’s organic value adding to the soil

This technology is eco-friendly with environment for the health of soil as well as it also saves water.

Solution: D

The Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016

It replaced the Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982.

• It aims to enforce The Hague Hijacking Convention and the 2010 Beijing Protocol Supplementary to the Convention.
• The Hague Convention (Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft) sets out the principle of aut dedere aut judicare — a state that is a party to the Convention must prosecute an aircraft hijacker if no other state requests his or her extradition for prosecution.

The 2010 Protocol Supplementary, which made amendments and additions, came into effect on 1st January, 2018, and had 27 signatories as of September, 2018.

The new Act applies even if the offence is committed outside India but the aircraft is registered in India or leased to Indians, or the offender is Indian, or the offender is stateless but lives in India (such as an illegal Bangladeshi migrant), or the offence is committed against Indians.

The Offence of Hijacking

Section 3(1) of the Anti Hijacking Act, 2016 defines the offence of hijacking as: “Whoever unlawfully and intentionally seizes or exercises control of an aircraft in service by force or threat thereof, or by coercion, or by any other form of intimidation, or by any technological means, commits the offence of hijacking”.

The act aims to punish not only an actual act of hijacking, but even a false threat that may appear genuine.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/hijacking-act-why-a-hoax-led-to-a-life-term-5777795/

Solution: C

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK)  are agricultural extension centres created by ICAR(Indian Council for Agricultural Research) and its affiliated institutions at district level to provide various types of farm support to the agricultural sector.

The first KVK was established during 1974 (Pondicherry). The mandate of KVK is Technology Assessment and Demonstration for its Application and Capacity
Development

All KVKs fall under the jurisdiction of one of the 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes (ATARIs) throughout India. As of January 2020, there were approximately 716 KVKs throughout India

There is no funding from local farmers to facilitate the day to day administration of KVK

Solution: A

The Meitei people are an ethnic group that comprise the majority in Manipur, a northeastern state of India. The Meitei primarily settled on a large valley in modern-day Manipur, although a sizable diaspora have settled in the neighboring states of Assam, and Meghalaya.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/manipur-considering-st-status-for-meiteis/article26433540.ece

Solution: C

Shri Guru Ravidas Ji was an Indian mystic poet-sant of the Bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a guru (teacher) in the region of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and mainly Punjab. He was a poet-saint, social reformer and a spiritual figure.

The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Ravidas. Guru Ravidas taught removal of social divisions of caste and gender, and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedoms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravidas

Solution: C

The popular messaging platform WhatsApp was used to spy on journalists and human rights activists in India earlier this year. The surveillance was carried out using a spyware tool called Pegasus, which has been developed by an Israeli firm, the NSO Group.

WhatsApp sued the NSO Group in a federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday, accusing it of using WhatsApp servers in the United States and elsewhere “to send malware to approximately 1,400 mobile phones and devices (‘Target Devices’)… for the purpose of conducting surveillance of specific WhatsApp users (‘Target Users’)”.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/whatsapp-spyware-pegasus-india-surveillance-nso-israel-6096910/

Solution: D

Tiger conservation involves attempts to prevent the animal from becoming extinct and preserving its natural habitat. India is home to 70 per cent of global tiger population. Therefore, the country has an important role to play in tiger conservation.

Guru Ghasidas National Park: This will be Chattisgarh’s 4th tiger reserve. Current 3 tiger reserves: Achanakmar, Udanti- Sitanadi and Indravati tiger reserves.

Solution: A

Project Zero:

• Introduced by Amazon.
• To block selling of counterfeit goods on its platform.
• The aim is to ensure that customers receive authentic goods when shopping on Amazon.
• It introduces additional proactive mechanisms and powerful tools to identify, block and remove counterfeits.

Solution: C

Institutions in News- Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO):

• SFIO comes under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
• It is a multi-disciplinary organisation that investigates and guides prosecution in white-collar fraud requiring expertise in forensic auditing, corporate law, information technology, capital markets, taxation, and other allied fields.
• It was established in 2003, based on recommendations by the Naresh Chandra Committee on Corporate Audit and Governance.
• It received statutory powers under the Companies Act, 2013.
• Cases are assigned to the SFIO based on the scale of financial misappropriation or extent of public interest that is at stake.

Solution: D

Budapest convention:

• The Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime or the Budapest Convention, is the first international treaty seeking to address Internet and computer crime by harmonizing national laws, improving investigative techniques, and increasing cooperation among nations.
• It was drawn up by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, with the active participation of the Council of Europe’s observer states Canada, Japan, South Africa and the United States.
• It is open for ratification even to states that are not members of the Council of Europe.
• As of September 2019, 64 states have ratified the convention.
• India is not a signatory to Budapest Convention.

Solution: B

Ministry of rural development releases fifth edition of Wasteland Atlas. The last edition was published in 2011.

• This is significant as it takes into account 12.08 MHa of unmapped area of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) for the first time.
• The new wastelands mapping exercise was carried out by NRSC using the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data.

Solution: D

FASTags

• The objective is to remove bottlenecks and capture all toll electronically.
• All 560-odd plazas under the control of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will collect toll without human intervention, and vehicles need not stop to pay toll.

How does FASTag work?

• The device employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it.
• It is affixed on the windscreen, so the vehicle can drive through plazas without stopping.
• It is valid for five years, and can be recharged as and when required.
• The payment method is a part of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) programme. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) collects the payments.
• The tags are linked to bank accounts and other payment methods.
• FASTag is presently operational at both, national and state highways.

Solution: C

Kalapani Territory:

• Kalapani is located at an altitude of 3600m on the KailashManasarovar route.
• It borders Uttarakhand in India and Sudurpashchim Pradesh in Nepal.
• Since the Indo-China war of 1962, Kalapani is controlled by India’s Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
• Nepal claims that the river located towards the west of the territory is the main Kali river and thus it falls in its territory, India claims a ridgeline towards the east of the Kalapani territory and hence, includes it in the Indian Union.

Solution: C

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA):

• It is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years.
• First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between reading, mathematics, and science in each cycle.
• PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving.
• PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES.