DAY – 19 ( INSTA REVISION TEST – 19)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2021

Solution: B

BrahMos missile is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile. It is a joint venture of the DRDO of India and the NPOM of Russia. It operates on fire and forget principal.

It is two-stage missile, the first one being solid and the second one ramjet liquid propellant.

Solution: A

India’s largest news agency, Press Trust of India (PTI) is a non-profit sharing cooperative owned by the country’s newspapers with a mandate to provide efficient and unbiased news to all subscribers.

Founded in August, 1947, PTI began functioning from 1949. It offers its news services in English and Hindi languages. Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

Bhasha is the Hindi language news service of the agency. PTI subscribers include 500 newspapers in India and scores abroad. All major TV and radio channels in India and several abroad, including BBC in London, receive its services.

PTI now has its own satellite delivery system through a transponder on an INSAT satellite for reaching its services directly to subscribers anywhere in the country. Increasingly more and more subscribers are opting for satellite reception. Photo service is delivered by satellite as well as accessed by dial up.

Solution: C

Lead-zinc ore

Rajasthan is endowed with the largest resources of lead-zinc ore amounting to 670.34 million tonnes (89.44 per cent), followed by Andhra Pradesh 22.69 million tonnes (3.02 per cent), Madhya Pradesh 14.84 million tonnes (1.98 per cent), Bihar 11.43 million tonnes (1.52 per cent) and Maharashtra 9.27 million tonnes (1.24 per cent).

Manganese Ore

Statewise, Odisha tops the total resources with 44 per cent share followed by Karnataka 22 per cent, Hence statement 2 is incorrect. Madhya Pradesh 12 per cent, Maharashtra and Goa 7 per cent each, Andhra Pradesh 4 per cent and Jharkhand 2 per cent.  Rajasthan, Gujarat and West Bengal together shared the remaining about 2 per cent resources.

Nickel

As per UNFC, as in 2015, the total resources of nickel ore have been estimated at 189 million tonnes. About 92 per cent resources; i.e., 175 million tonnes are in Odisha. The remaining 8 per cent resources are distributed in Jharkhand (9 million tonnes) and Nagaland (5 million tonnes). Nominal resources are reported from Karnataka (0.23 million tonnes).

Solution: B

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Hence statement 1 is incorrect. The Scheme covers students of primary and upper primary classes in the government schools/schools aided by government and the schools run by local bodies.

Food grains are supplied free of cost at 100 grams for primary stage and at 150 grams for upper primary stage per child per school day where cooked/processed hot meal is being served or 3 kgs

per student per month where raw foodgrains are distributed. During 2018-19, 12.12 lakh tonnes of foodgrains comprising 10.25 lakh tonnes of rice and 1.87 lakh tonnes of wheat were allocated under the Scheme.

Solution: A

Contingency Fund is created as an imprest account to meet some urgent or unforeseen expenditure of the government.

This fund was constituted by the government under Article 267 of the Constitution of India. This fund is at the disposal of the President.

Parliamentary approval for such expenditure and for withdrawal of an equivalent amount from the Consolidated Fund is subsequently obtained and the amount spent from Contingency Fund is subsequently recouped to the Fund. The corpus of the Fund authorised by the Parliament, at present, is ₹ 500 crore.

Solution: B

Classical Language in India is an official status within the Republic of India, awarded by the Government of India.

• There are six languagesenjoy the ‘Classical’ status:
  • Tamil (declared in 2004).
  • Sanskrit (2005)
  • Kannada (2008)
  • Telugu (2008)
  • Malayalam (2013)
  • Odia (2014)

Criteria’s for declaring a language as ‘Classical’ are:

• High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years.
• A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers.
• The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community.
• The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

Benefits Once A Language Is Notified As A Classical Language:

• Two major annual international awards for scholars of eminencein classical Indian languages.
• A Centre of Excellencefor studies in Classical Languages is set up
• The University Grants Commission is requested to create, to start with at least in the Central Universities, a certain number of Professional Chairsfor the Classical Languages so declared.

Solution: C

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions in 149 countries. Hence Statement 1 is correct.

They are caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and helminthes.

NTDs are considered diseases of poverty and are often left out of the global health conversation.

Populations living in poverty, without adequate sanitation and in close contact with infectious vectors and domestic animals and livestock are those worst affected.

They blind, disfigure, and debilitate people in the poorest regions of the world.

According to the WHO, 20 health conditions are categorized as Neglected tropical diseases. Hence Statement 2 is incorrect.

• Buruli ulcer
• Chagas disease
• Dengue and Chikungunya. Hence Statement 3 is correct.
• Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease)
• Echinococcosis
• Foodborne trematodiases
• Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
• Leishmaniasis
• Leprosy(Hansen’s disease)
• Lymphatic filariasis
• Mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses
• Onchocerciasis (river blindness)
• Rabies
• Scabies and other ectoparasites
• Schistosomiasis
• Soil-transmitted helminthiases
• Snakebite envenoming
• Taeniasis/Cysticercosis
• Trachoma
• Yaws (Endemic treponematoses)

Solution: B

The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) was launched in 1993. Initially, Ministry of Rural Development was the Nodal Ministry for this scheme. In October, 1994 this scheme was transferred to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Hence statement 1 is incorrect.

The objective of MPLAD Scheme is to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasizes on creation of durable community assets in the areas of national priorities, viz., drinking water facility; education; electricity facility; health and family welfare; irrigation facility; non-conventional energy severs; railways, roads, pathways etc.

The salient features of the Scheme include:

1. a) The Scheme is fully funded by the Government of India under which funds are released in the form of grants-in-aid directly to the district authorities.
2. b) The funds released under the Scheme are non-lapsable, i.e., the entitlement of funds not released in a particular year is carried forward to the subsequent years, subject to eligibility. At present, the annual entitlement per MP/constituency is ₹ 5 crore.
3. c) Under it, the role of the Members of Parliament is limited to recommend works. Thereafter, it is the responsibility of the district authority to sanction, execute and complete the works recommended within the stipulated time period.
4. d) The elected Lok Sabha Members can recommend works in their respective constituencies. The elected members of the Rajya Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the state from which they are elected. Nominated Members of the Parliament can recommend works for implementation, anywhere in the country.
5. e) MPLADS works can be implemented in areas affected by natural calamities like floods, cyclone, hailstorm, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, landslides, tornado, earthquake, drought, tsunami, fire and biological, chemical, radiological hazards, etc.
6. f) In order to accord special attention to the development of areas inhabited by Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), 15 per cent of MPLADS funds are to be utilized for areas inhabited by SC population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by ST population.
7. g) If an elected Member of Parliament finds the need, to contribute these funds, to a place outside that state/UT or outside the constituency within the state or both, the MP can recommend eligible works, under these Guidelines upto a maximum of ₹ 25 lakh in a financial year. Such a gesture will promote national unity, harmony, and fraternity among the people, at the grass roots level.
8. h) The MP can spend a maximum of ₹ 20 lakh per year for giving assistance to Differently Abled Citizens for purchase of tri-cycles (including motorized tricycles), battery operated motorized wheel chair and artificial limbs; and aids for visually and hearing impaired.

Solution: C

Both the statements are correct.

The Appellate Body was established in 1995 under Article 17 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU). It is a standing body of seven persons that hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought by WTO Members.

The Appellate Body can uphold, modify or reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel, and Appellate Body Reports, once adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), must be accepted by the parties to the dispute. The Appellate Body has its seat in Geneva, Switzerland.

Solution: C

Both the statements are correct.

Crop Trust (officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust), is an international nonprofit organization which works to preserve cropdiversity in order to protect global food security

Crop Trust has embarked on a long-term effort to collect, conserve and initiate the use of the wild relatives of crops. It aims at identifying those wild crop varieties that are missing from existing crop collections, are most likely to contain diversity of value to making agriculture more productive, and are most endangered

Solution: C

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010

It prohibits receipt of foreign contribution “for any activities detrimental to the national interest”.

The Act specifies that NGOs require the government’s permission to receive funding from abroad. The purpose is to check that foreigners are not affecting India’s electoral politics, public servants, judges, journalists, NGOs etc. for wrong purposes. Hence Statement 1 is correct.

The following cannot accept Foreign Contributions:

• Election candidate
• MPs/MLAs
• Newspaper-walla: Correspondent, columnist, cartoonist, editor, owner, printer or publishers of a registered Newspaper.
• Public Servants: Judge, government servant or employeeof any Corporation or any other body controlled on owned by the Government.

History of the Act

Originally, the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was enacted in 1976 by the Indira Gandhi led government during the Emergency.

Solution: D

All the statements given above are correct.

Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA)

CARA is an apex body of Government of India for promoting and facilitating In-country Adoption and is the designated Central Authority for regulating Inter- country Adoption. 

CARA was designated as a Statutory Body under Ministry of Women & Child Development on 15 Jan 2016, under the provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. 

It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children. CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.

Solution: A

By features the HAM is a mix between the existing two models – BOT Annuity and EPC.

In India, the new HAM is a mix of BOT Annuity and EPC models. As per the design, the government will contribute to 40% of the project cost in the first five years through annual payments (annuity). The remaining payment will be made on the basis of the assets created and the performance of the developer.

Under HAM, Revenue collection would be the responsibility of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Solution: A

Payments banks were part of the Reserve Bank of India’s strategy of offering differentiated banking licences. It can accept demand deposits only that is savings and current accounts, not time deposits.

Payment Banks cannot accept Non-Resident Indian (NRI) deposits.

The Payment Banks cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial services activities.

Solution: D

Asian Premium is extra charge being collected by OPEC countries from Asian countries when selling oil in comparison to western countries.