DAY – 28 (InstaTest-28): Insta 70 Days Revision Plan-2021: Topic – GOVERNMENT SCHEMES, ORGANISATIONS & INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Subject-wise Test 11 &24 , Textbook-wise Tests 14, January 2021 CA

Solution: C

The Iron Age of the southern peninsula is often related to Megalithic Burials. Megalith means Large Stone.

The burial pits were covered with these stones. Such graves are extensively found in South India. Some of the important megalithic sites are Hallur and Maski in Karnataka, Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh and Adichchanallur in Tamil Nadu.

The chalcolithic communities founded the first villages in India and cultivated far more cereals than is known in the case of the Neolithic communities.

In particular they cultivated barley, wheat and lentil in western India, and rice in southern, and eastern India.  Their cereal food was supplemented by non-vegetarian food.

Solution: B

To understand the Vedas better, it is necessary to study the Vedangas or the branches/limbs of the Veda. They are like a supplement to the original Veda

and concentrate on topics like siksha (education), nirukta (etymology or the origin of words), Chhanda (metrics in Sanskrit grammer), jyotisha (astronomy) and vyakarana (grammar

Solution: D

The primary cause for the rise of Jainism and Buddhism was the religious unrest in India in the 6th century B.C

• The complex rituals and sacrifices advocated in the Later Vedic period were not acceptable to the common people.
• The teachings of Upanishads, an alternative to the system of sacrifices, were highly philosophical in nature and therefore not easily understood by all.
• The growth of trade led to the improvement in the economic conditions of the Vaisyas. As a result, they wanted to enhance their social status but the orthodox. Varna system did not allow this. Therefore, they began to extend support to Buddhism and Jainism.

Solution: D

Larger kingdoms were formed during the later Vedic period. Many jana or tribes were amalgamated to form janapadas or rashtras in the later Vedic period.

In the later Vedic period, a large number of new officials were involved in the administration in addition to the existing purohita, senani and gramani. They include the treasury officer, tax collector and royal messenger.

Iron was used extensively in this period and this enabled the people to clear forests and to bring more land under cultivation. Agriculture became the chief occupation

Solution: D

A new tool, the plough, was used to dig the earth for turning the soil and planting seeds. While real ploughs, which were probably made of wood, have not survived, toy models have been found. As this region does not receive heavy rainfall, some
form of irrigation may have been used.

Solution: D

Important ports of India on the western coast during ancient period were (from north to south direction) Bharukachchha, Sopara, Kalyana, Muziris, etc. Ships from these ports sailed to the Roman Empire through the Red Sea.

Trade with southeast Asia was conducted through the sea. Prominent ports on the eastern coast of India were Tamralipti (West Bengal), Arikamedu (Tamil Nadu Coast) etc.

Solution: C
The founder of the Satavahana dynasty was Simuka. He was succeeded by Krishna, who extended the kingdom up to Nasik in the west.

The Satavahanas patronized Buddhism and Brahmanism. They built chaityas and viharas. They also made grants of villages and lands to Buddhist monks. Brahmanism was revived by the Satavahanas along with the performance of asvamedha and rajasuya sacrifices.

They also patronized the Prakrit language and literature.

Solution: B

Punch marked coins issued by various Mahajanapadas (around 6th century BC): The first Indian punch marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana were minted in the 6th century BC by the various Janapadas and Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Hence Statement 1 is incorrect.

The standard gold coin of the Mughals was the Mohur of about 170 to 175 grains. Abul Fazl in his ‘Ain-i-Akbari’ indicated that a Mohur was equivalent to nine rupees. Hence Statement 2 is correct.

Solution: D

In Mahajanapadas.

Forts were probably built because people were afraid of attacks from other kings and needed protection. It is also likely that some rulers wanted to show how rich and powerful they were by building really large, tall and impressive walls around their cities.

The new rajas now began maintaining armies. Soldiers were paid regular salaries and maintained by the king throughout the year.

As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were (a) building huge forts (b) maintaining big armies, they needed more resources. And they needed
officials to collect these. So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the raja of the janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes.

Solution: D

The king maintained a close contact with the provincial administration through a class of officials called Kumaramatyas and Ayuktas. Provinces in the Gupta Empire were known as Bhuktis and provincial governors as Uparikas. They were mostly chosen from among the princes.

Bhuktis were subdivided into Vishyas or districts. They were governed by Vishyapatis. Nagara Sreshtis were the officers looking after the city administration. The villages in the district were under the control of Gramikas

Solution: A

Floud Commission a land revenue commission established by the government of Bengal in 1938. Ak Fazlul Huq, a leader of the nikhil banga praja samiti (est. 1929), and subsequently the leader of the Krishak Praja Party (est.1935) was committed to the abolition of the zamindari system and restoring the rights of peasants.

Hence, option (d) is correct

Solution: D

The Mauryan period provides the earliest examples of ancient Indian art and
architecture. Megasthenes has described the grandeur of the Mauryan palace at Pataliputra.

Some remains of this palace have been found at Kumrhar near
Patna. Ashokan pillars at Rampurva, Lauriya Nandangarh and Sarnath present excellent examples of stone sculptures which developed in this period.

Dhauli is located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. It is a hill with vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill.

The Lomas Rishi Cave, also called the Grotto of Lomas Rishi, is one of the man-made Barabar Caves in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills of Jehanabad district in the Indian state of Bihar. This rock-cut cave was carved out as a sanctuary. It was built during the Ashokan period of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BC, as part of the sacred architecture of the Ajivikas, an ancient religious and philosophical group of India that competed with Jainism and became extinct over time.

Solution: D

Ease of doing business is an index published by the World Bank. It is an aggregate figure that includes different parameters which define the ease of doing business in a country.

It is computed by aggregating the distance to frontier scores of different economies. The distance to frontier score uses the ‘regulatory best practices’ for doing business as the parameter and benchmark economies according to that parameter.

For each of the indicators that form a part of the statistic ‘Ease of doing business,’ a distance to frontier score is computed and all the scores are aggregated. The aggregated score becomes the Ease of doing business index.

In recent years, Doing Business introduced improvements to all of its indicator sets. In Doing Business 2015, Resolving Insolvency introduced new measures of quality, while Getting Credit and Protecting Minority Investors broadened their existing measures. In Doing Business 2016, Dealing with Construction Permits, Getting Electricity, Registering Property and Enforcing Contracts also introduced new measures of quality, and Trading across Borders introduced a new case scenario to increase the economic relevance. In Doing Business 2017, Paying Taxes introduced new measures of postfiling processes and Starting a Business, Registering Property and Enforcing Contracts added gender components.

Each methodology expansion was recalculated for one year to provide comparable indicator values and scores for the previous year

Solution: A

Coal also called ‘black gold’ contains carbon, volatile matter, moisture and ash [in some cases Sulphur and phosphorous].

Depending upon its grade from highest to lowest, following four varieties of coal are generally recognized.

1. Anthracite Coal: This is the best quality of coal and contains 80 to 95 percent carbon.
2. Bituminous Coal: This is the most widely used coal. It varies greatly in composition in carbon content from 40 to 85 percent.
3. Lignite: Also known as brown coal, is a lower grade coal and contains about 40 to 55 percent carbon.
4. Peat: This is the first stage of transformation of wood into coal and contains less than 40 percent carbon.

Solution: D

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. GCF helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. It seeks to promote a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development, taking into account the needs of nations that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

It was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, as part of the Convention’s financial mechanism. It aims to deliver equal amounts of funding to mitigation and adaptation, while being guided by the Convention’s principles and provisions.

The Fund pays particular attention to the needs of societies that are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, in particular Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and African States.

The Fund’s investments can be in the form of grants, loans, equity or guarantees.

Solution: C

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory multi-disciplinary body established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, to combat organized wildlife crime in the country. The Bureau has its headquarter in New Delhi and five regional offices at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Jabalpur; three sub-regional offices at Guwahati, Amritsar and Cochin; and five border units at Ramanathapuram, Gorakhpur, Motihari, Nathula and Moreh.

Under Section 38 (Z) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, it is mandated to collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities and to disseminate the same to State and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals;

To establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank; co-ordinate actions by various agencies in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of the Act;

Assist foreign authorities and international organization concerned to facilitate co-ordination and universal action for wildlife crime control;

capacity building of the wildlife crime enforcement agencies for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes;

Advise the Government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, relevant policy and laws. It also assists and advises the Customs authorities in inspection of the consignments of flora & fauna as per the provisions of Wild Life Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing such an item.

Solution: B

The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 aim to:

• Increase minimum thickness of plastic carry bags from 40 to 50 microns and stipulate minimum thickness of 50 micron for plastic sheets also to facilitate collection and recycle of plastic waste
• Expand the jurisdiction of applicability from the municipal area to rural areas, because plastic has reached rural areas also
• To bring in the responsibilities of producers and generators, both in plastic waste management system and to introduce collect back system of plastic waste by the producers/brand owners, as per extended producers responsibility
• To introduce collection of plastic waste management fee through pre-registration of the producers, importers of plastic carry bags/multilayered packaging and vendors selling the same for establishing the waste management system
• To promote use of plastic waste for road construction as per Indian Road Congress guidelines or energy recovery, or waste to oil etc. for gainful utilization of waste and also address the waste disposal issue; to entrust more responsibility on waste generators, namely payment of user charge as prescribed by local authority, collection and handing over of waste by the institutional generator, event organizers.
• An eco-friendly product, which is a complete substitute of the plastic in all uses, has not been found till date. In the absence of a suitable alternative, it is impractical and undesirable to impose a blanket ban on the use of plastic all over the country. The real challenge is to improve plastic waste management systems.

http://vikaspedia.in/energy/environment/waste-management/plastic-waste-management-rules-2016

Solution: C

Silent Valley National Park, is a national park in Kerala, India. It is located in the Nilgiri hills.

Solution: C

Nalbana Bird Sanctuary or Nalbana Island is the core area of the Ramsar designated wetlands of Chilika Lake. It was declared a bird sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972.

Solution: C

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana’ incorporates the best features of all previous schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings / weaknesses have been removed. The PMFBY replaced the existing two schemes National Agricultural Insurance Scheme as well as the Modified NAIS.

Objectives

1. To provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
2. To stabilise the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
3. To encourage farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
4. To ensure flow of credit to the agriculture sector.

Highlights of the scheme

• 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 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 claim against full sum insured without any reduction.
• The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart phones 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

All farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible.

Compulsory coverage : The enrolment under the scheme, subject to possession of insurable interest on the cultivation of the notified crop in the notified area, shall be compulsory for following categories of farmers:

• Farmers in the notified area who possess a Crop Loan account/KCC account (called as Loanee Farmers) to whom credit limit is sanctioned/renewed for the notified crop during the crop season. and
• Such other farmers whom the Government may decide to include from time to time.

Voluntary coverage : Voluntary coverage may be obtained by all farmers not covered above, including Crop KCC/Crop Loan Account holders whose credit limit is not renewed.

Risks covered under the scheme

• Yield Losses (standing crops, on notified area basis). Comprehensive risk insurance is provided to cover yield losses due to non-preventable risks, such as Natural Fire and Lightning, Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado. Risks due to Flood, Inundation and Landslide, Drought, Dry spells, Pests/ Diseases also will be covered.
• In cases where majority of the insured farmers of a notified area, having intent to sow/plant and incurred expenditure for the purpose, are prevented from sowing/planting the insured crop due to adverse weather conditions, shall be eligible for indemnity claims upto a maximum of 25 per cent of the sum-insured.
• In post-harvest losses, coverage will be available up to a maximum period of 14 days from harvesting for those crops which are kept in “cut & spread” condition to dry in the field.
• For certain localized problems, Loss / damage resulting from occurrence of identified localized risks like hailstorm, landslide, and Inundation affecting isolated farms in the notified area would also be covered.

Unit of Insurance

The Scheme shall be implemented on an ‘Area Approach basis’ i.e., Defined Areas for each notified crop for widespread calamities with the assumption that all the insured farmers, in a Unit of Insurance, to be defined as “Notified Area‟ for a crop, face similar risk exposures, incur to a large extent, identical cost of production per hectare, earn comparable farm income per hectare, and experience similar extent of crop loss due to the operation of an insured peril, in the notified area.

http://vikaspedia.in/agriculture/agri-insurance/pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana

Solution: B

Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC):

• A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/debentures/securities issued by Government or local authority or other marketable securities of a like nature.
• NBFC does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity, purchase or sale of any goods (other than securities) or providing any services and sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.
• A non-banking institution which is a company and has principal business of receiving deposits under any scheme or arrangement in one lump sum or in installments by way of contributions or in any other manner, is also a non-banking financial company (Residuary non-banking company).

Difference between banks & NBFCs:

NBFCs lend and make investments and hence their activities are akin to that of banks; however, there are a few differences as given below:

• NBFC cannot accept demand deposits;
• NBFCs do not form part of the payment and settlement systemand cannot issue cheques drawn on itself;
• Deposit insurance facility of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation is not availableto depositors of NBFCs, unlike in case of banks.

Solution: C

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):

• BIS is the only national body that frames standards.
• It works under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
• BIS is responsible for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
  • It prescribes the standards for covering goods and systems under the standardization regime.
• The Bureau of Indian standards (BIS) Act 2016establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India.
• The Act enables the Central Government to appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services with the established standard and issue certificate of conformity.
• There is a provision for repair or recall, of the products (bearing Standard Mark) that do not conform to the relevant Indian Standard.

Solution: D

Pardoning powers of President:

Clemency powers of the President under article 72:

It says that the President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.

• Pardon–A pardon completely absolves the offender from all sentences and punishment and disqualifications and places him in the same position as if he had never committed the offence.
• Commutation– Commutation means exchange of one thing for another. In simple words to replace the punishment with less severe punishment. For example for Rigorous imprisonment-simple imprisonment.
• Reprieve– Reprieve means temporary suspension of death sentence. For example- pending a proceeding for pardon or commutation.
• Respite– Respite means awarding a lesser punishment on some special grounds. For example- the Pregnancy of women offender.
• Remissions– Remission means the reduction of the amount of sentence without changing its character, for example, a sentence of 1 year may be remitted to 6 months.

The President can exercise these powers:

• In all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court martial;
• In all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;
• In all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.

The pardoning power of President is wider than the governor and it differs in the following two ways:

• The power of the President to grant pardon extends in cases where the punishment or sentence is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not provide any such power to the Governor.
• The President can grant pardon in all cases where the sentence given is sentence of death but pardoning power of Governor does not extend to death sentence cases.

Key facts:

• This power of pardon shall be exercised by the President on the advice of Council of Ministers.
• Further, the constitution does not provide for any mechanism to question the legality of decisions of President or governors exercising mercy jurisdiction.
• But the SC in Epuru Sudhakar case has given a small window for judicial review of the pardon powers of President and governors for the purpose of ruling out any arbitrariness.
• The court has earlier held that court has retained the power of judicial review even on a matter which has been vested by the Constitution solely in the Executive.

Solution: C

Removal of Speaker:

• The Speaker can be removed from Office only on a resolution of the House passed by a majority of all the then members of the House.
• Such a resolution has to satisfy some conditions like: it should be specific with respect to the charges and it should not contain arguments, inferences, ironical expressions, imputations or defamatory statements, etc.
• Not only these, discussions should be confined to charges referred to in the resolution.
• It is also mandatory to give a minimum of 14 days’ notice of the intention to move the resolution.

Solution: D

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’:

• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Schemewas launched in January, 2015.
• The scheme is aimed at promoting gender equality and the significance of educating girls.
• The Scheme is targeted at improving the Child Sex Ratiothrough multi sectoral interventions including prevention of gender biased sex selection and promoting girls’ education and her holistic empowerment.
• It is a tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Objectives:

• To prevent gender-biased sex selective elimination.
• To ensure the protection and survival of the girl child.
• To ensuring education and participation of the girl child.

Significance and the need for scheme:

• The trend of decline in the Child Sex Ratio (CSR)has been unabated since 1961. The decline from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001 and further to 918 in 2011 is alarming. The social construct discrimination against girls on one hand, easy availability, affordability and subsequent misuse of diagnostic tools on the other hand, have been critical in increasing Sex Selective Elimination of girls leading to low Child Sex Ratio.
• Child Sex Ratiois defined as number of girls per 1000 of boys between 0-6 years of age. Hence, a decline in the CSR is a major indicator of women disempowerment. The ratio reflects both, pre-birth discrimination manifested through gender biased sex selection and post birth discrimination against girls.

Solution: C

Amount = simple interest + principal
9200 = simple interest + 8000
Simple interest = 9200-8000 = Rs 1200
If r % be the rate of interest ,
Then from, simple interest = ((principal * rate% * time)/100)
1200 = ((8000 * r * 3)/100)
r = 5%
If 2% more interest that is 7% interest
simple interest = ((8000 * 7 * 3)/100)
= Rs 1680
Thus, amount she will get is Rs 8000 + Rs 1680 = Rs 9680

Solution: D

Let the present age of Mr. Mahesh = (10x + y) yrs.
Present age of his wife = (10y + x) yrs
It is given that,
(1/11)Sum of their ages = Difference of their ages
(1/11)(10x + y + 10y + x) = (10x + y) – (10y + x)
(1/11)(11x + 11y) = 9x – 9y
x + y = 9x – 9y
8x = 10y
x/y = 10/8
x/y = 5/4
x : y = 5 : 4
Age of Mr. Mahesh = 10(5) + 4 = 54 yrs
Age of his wife = 10(4) + 5 = 45 yrs
Required ratio = 54/45 = 6 : 5.

Solution: B

Since second train starts 8 AM, first train which is leaving from Mumbai at 7 AM had already travelled a distance of 20 Km.

Thus, remaining distance to be covered is D = 110 – 20 = 90

Since, two trains are moving opposite direction, their relative speed (RS) = 20 + 25 = 45Kmph
Therefore, Time taken= Distance/Speed = 90/45 = 2 hours
Time of Meeting will 2 hrs from 8 AM i.e 10 AM

Solution: C

To be an even number, the units digit has to even number, in this case only 8 should come in the unit’s place.

Thus, remaining places can be filled by remaining three numbers in 3! Ways or 6 ways.

Correct Answer: D
Explanation:
First theory talks about a few subjects and specialized knowledge. And they agreed that greatest contributions to civilization are made by those who are experts in their trade or profession and not from the one who believed in second theory.
Hence the correct answer is D.