DAY – 34 ( INSTA REVISION TEST)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2020

Solution: C

Kalasa-Banduri Nala project:

• Undertaken by the Government of Karnataka to improve drinking water supply to the Districts of Belagavi, Dharwad, and Gadag.
• It involves building across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert 7.56 TMC of water to the Malaprabha river.

About Mahadayi river:

• It is a west flowing river.
• Origin: originates in Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary (Western Ghats), Belagavi district of Karnataka.
• Called Mandovi in Goa.
• Travels 35 km in Karnataka; 82 km in Goa before joining the Arabian Sea.

Solution: B

Future of Earth 2020

The Future of Earth 2020 report has been released by the South Asia Future Earth Regional Office, Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science. The report was prepared with the aim of reducing carbon footprint and halting global warming below 2 degree Celsius by 2050.

Key observations:

• Interrelation of risk factors: Extreme heat waves can accelerate global warming by releasing large amounts of stored carbon from affected ecosystems, and at the same time intensify water crises and/or food scarcity.
• Biodiversity loss and it’s impact: The loss of biodiversity weakens the capacity of natural and agricultural systems to cope with climate extremes, increasing our vulnerability to food crises.
• The five years from 2014 to 2018 were the warmest recorded over land and ocean since 1880.

Solution: D

Long-term repo operations (LTROs):

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said it has received Rs 1.13 lakh crore worth of bids in the targeted long term repo operation (TLTRO) conducted for an amount of Rs 25,000 crore with a three-year tenor.
• Long Term Reverse Repo Operation (LTRO) is a mechanism to facilitate the transmission of monetary policy actions and the flow of credit to the economy. This helps in injecting liquidity in the banking system.
• The LTRO is a tool under which the central bank provides one-year to three-year money to banks at the prevailing repo rate, accepting government securities with matching or higher tenure as the collateral.
• While the RBI’s current windows of liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) and marginal standing facility (MSF) offer banks money for their immediate needs ranging from 1-28 days, the LTRO supplies them with liquidity for their 1- to 3-year needs.
• LTRO operations are intended to prevent short-term interest rates in the market from drifting a long way away from the policy rate, which is the repo rate.

Why is it important?

• As banks get long-term funds at lower rates, their cost of funds falls.
• In turn, they reduce interest rates for borrowers.
• LTRO helped RBI ensure that banks reduce their marginal cost of funds-based lending rate, without reducing policy rates.
• LTRO also showed the market that RBI will not only rely on revising repo rates and conducting open market operations for its monetary policy, but also use new tools to achieve its intended objectives.
• LTRO will lead to decline in short term lending rates of banks

Solution: B

Geological Survey of India (GSI)

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India.
• It was founded in 1851, is a Government of India Ministry of Mines organisation,
• one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey in India after Survey of India (founded in 1767), for conducting geological surveys and studies of India,
• Geological Survey of India is the prime provider of basic earth science information to government, industry and general public, as well as the official participant in steel, coal, metals, cement, power industries and international geoscientific forums.

Solution: C

The Rathwa (also spelled Rathawa, Rathva, Rahava, Rathia and Rathiya) are an adivasi (indigenous tribal) community mostly living in the state of Gujarat, India.

The Baitarani is one of six major rivers of Odisha, India. Venerated in popular epics and legends, the Baitarani River is a source of water for agricultural irrigation. Most of the potentially arable land in the area is not under cultivation.

Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected wildlife sanctuary in the Western Ghats of Karnataka state in India. It is named after the presiding deity “Lord Someshwara” of the famed Someshwara temple located within the sanctuary. The sanctuary lies in Udupi & Shivamogga districts of Karnataka, below Agumbe

Jaldapara National Park is a national park situated at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Alipurduar District of northern West Bengal and on the banks of the Torsa River. Jaldapara is situated at an altitude of 61 m and is spread across 216.51 km² of vast grassland with patches of riverine forests.

Solution: C

The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Union (EU), Euratom, and the United Kingdom (UK), signed on 24 January 2020, setting the terms of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and Euratom. The text of the treaty was published on 17 October 2019, and is a renegotiated version of an agreement published half a year earlier.

Solution: B

Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)

• It is the apex vigilance institution created via executive resolution (based on the recommendations of Santhanam committee) in 1964 but was conferred with statutory status in 2003.
• It submits its report to the President of India.
• The Commission was set up on the recommendation of the K.Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption.
• Composition: Consists of central vigilance commissioner along with 2 vigilance commissioners.
• Appointment: They are appointed by the President of India on the recommendations of a committee consisting of Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (if there is no LoP then the leader of the single largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha).
• It is an independent body which is only responsible to the Parliament.
• Term: Their term is 4 years or 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• Removal: The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has, on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be, ought to be removed.

Solution: A

National Productivity Council:

• NPC is national level organization to promote productivity culture in India.
• Established by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in 1958.
• It is an autonomous, multipartite, non-profit organization with equal representation from employers’ & workers’ organizations and Government, apart from technical & professional institutions and other interests.
• NPC is a constituent of the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an Inter-Governmental Body, of which the Government of India is a founder member.
• It aims to stimulate and promote productivity and quality consciousness across all sectors in the country.
• NPC teams up with its clients to work out solutions towards accelerating productivity, enhancing competitiveness, increasing profits, augmenting safety and reliability and ensuring better quality.
• It provides reliable database for decision-making, improved systems and procedures, work culture as well as customer satisfaction both internal & external.

Solution: B

The Once-Only Principle Project (TOOP) was launched by the European Commission in January 2017 as an initiative of about 50 organisations from 20 EU Member States and Associated Countries.

The main objective of TOOP is to explore and demonstrate the once-only principle across borders, focusing on data from businesses. Doing this, TOOP wants to enable better exchange of business related data or documents with and between public administrations and reduce administrative burden for both businesses and public administrations.

TOOP aims to remove unnecessary administrative burdens on citizens by mandating that citizens are not required to provide the same information more than once to the government.

https://toop.eu/info

Solution: D

The organism is Henneguya salminicola, a fewer-than-10-celled microscopic parasite that lives in salmon muscle. According to the researchers, as the organism evolved, it gave up breathing and stopped the consumption of oxygen for the production of energy — which means it relies on anaerobic respiration (through which cells extract energy without using oxygen).

It is not an invasive species.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/what-is-henneguya-salminicola-6289506/

Solution: D

The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier international forum for global economic cooperation. The members of the G20 are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union.

G20 members account for 85 per cent of the world economy, 75 per cent of global trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population, including more than half of the world’s poor. G20 leaders meet annually at the G20 Summit.

https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/organisations/g20/Pages/g20

Solution: C

Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi, is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta provinces, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548.

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/indonesias-mount-merapi-erupts-twice-6470597/

Solution: C

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international
financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is established in 1977 and is one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference.

It is headquartered in Rome, Italy. It invests in rural people by empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience

Solution: D

The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts. Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from judicial review.

The Schedule became a part of the Constitution in 1951, when the document was amended for the first time. It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with 31A was brought in by the government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system. While A. 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws, A. 31B shields specific laws or enactments.

In IR Coelho versus State of Tamil Nadu case, Supreme Court held that laws placed in the 9th Schedule were open to judicial scrutiny.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/ninth-schedule-of-the-constitution-explained-6265890/

Solution: A

5G is the 5th generation mobile network. It is a new global wireless standard after 1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G networks. 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices.

5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

There are several reasons that 5G will be better than 4G:

• 5G is significantly faster than 4G
• 5G has more capacity than 4G
• 5G has significantly lower latency than 4G
• 5G is a unified platform that is more capable than 4G
• 5G uses spectrum better than 4G.

https://www.thehindu.com/business/how-will-a-5g-network-power-the-future/article27698653.ece