[MISSION 2022] INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 25 December 2021 ) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• There is no provision of SCS in the Constitution; the Central government extends financial assistance to states that are at a comparative disadvantage against others.
• This classification was done on the recommendations of the Fifth Finance Commission in 1969.
• It was based on the Gadgil formula. The parameters for SCS were:
  • Hilly Terrain;
  • Low Population Density And/Or Sizeable Share of Tribal Population;
  • Strategic Location along Borders With Neighbouring Countries;
  • Economic and Infrastructure Backwardness; and
  • Nonviable Nature of State finances.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/special-category-status-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The 14th Finance Commission has done away with the ‘special category status’ for states, except for the Northeastern and three hill states.
• Instead, it suggested that the resource gap of each state be filled through ‘tax devolution’, urging the Centre to increase the states’ share of tax revenues from 32% to 42%, which has been implemented since 2015.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/special-category-status-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC):

• It is an economic and political union comprising of all the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf except Iraq.
• The council’s main headquarter is in the city of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/uaes-golden-visa-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• It is a 2015 British biographical drama film based on the 1991 book of the same name by Robert Kanigel.
• The film stars Dev Patel as the real-life Srinivasa Ramanujan, a mathematician who after growing up poor in Madras, India, earns admittance to Cambridge University during World War I, where he becomes a pioneer in mathematical theories.
• Distinguished mathematicians Manjul Bhargava and Ken Ono are Associate Producers of the film.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/national-mathematics-day-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• What are flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs)?
• An FFV is a modified version of vehicles that could run both on gasoline and doped petrol with different levels of ethanol blends.
• FFVs will allow vehicles to use all the blends and also run on unblended fuel.
• FFVs have compatible engines to run on more than 84 percent ethanol blended petrol.
• Benefits:
  • FFVs are aimed at reducing the use of polluting fossil fuels and cutting down harmful emissions.
  • Alternative fuel ethanol is Rs 60-62 per litre while petrol costs more than Rs 100 per litre in many parts of the country, so by using ethanol, Indians will save Rs 30-35 per litre.
  • For India, FFVs will present a different advantage as they will allow vehicles to use different blends of ethanol mixed petrol available in different parts of the country.
  • Also, these vehicles are a logical extension of the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme launched by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in January 2003.
  • Since India has surplus produce of corn, sugar and wheat, the mandatory blending of ethanol programme will help farmers in realising higher incomes.
  • For the overall Indian economy, higher usage of ethanol as an automobile fuel will help save import costs as the country meets more than 80 per cent of its crude oil requirements through imports.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/flex-fuel-vehicles/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Palk strait connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest. The strait is 53 to 82 kilometres wide. Several rivers flow into it, including the Vaigai River of Tamil Nadu.
• Palk Bay is studded at its southern end with a chain of low islands and reef shoals that are collectively called Adam’s Bridge, it has historically been known in Hindu Mythology as “Ram Setu” i.e.
• This chain extends between Dhanushkodi on Pamban Island (also known as Rameswaram Island) in Tamil Nadu and Mannar Island in Sri Lanka. The island of Rameswaram is linked to the Indian mainland by the Pamban Bridge.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/bottom-trawling-and-associated-issues-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation: P.N. Panicker (1909-1995):

• Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker is known as the Father of the Library Movement of Kerala.
• June 19, his death anniversary, has been observed in Kerala as Vayanadinam (Reading Day) since 1996.
• In 2017, PM declared June 19, Kerala’s Reading Day, as National Reading Day in India. The following month is also observed as National Reading Month in India.
• Panicker led the formation of Thiruvithaamkoor Granthasala Sangham (Travancore Library Association) in 1945 with 47 rural libraries. The slogan of the organization was ‘Read and Grow’.
• The association – Grandhasala Sangham won the prestigious ‘Krupsakaya Award’ from UNESCO in 1975.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/mission-2022-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-25-december-2021/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
• They inhabit warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
• These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• Rushikulya rookery coast in the Ganjam district of Odisha, Gahirmatha beach and the mouth of the Debi River, are the major nesting sites in Odisha.
• IUCN status: Vulnerable. 
  • Every year, the Indian Coast Guard’s “Operation Olivia”, initiated in the early 1980s, helps protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/mission-2022-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-25-december-2021/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• • DRDO recently successfully conducted maiden flight test of a new indigenously developed surface-to-surface missile ‘Pralay’.
  • Pralay’ is India’s first conventional quasi-ballistic missile. A quasi-ballistic missile has a low trajectory, and while it is largely ballistic, it can maneuver in flight.
  • The missile has been developed in a way that it is able to defeat the interceptor missiles and also has the ability to change its path after covering a certain range mid-air.
  • It is powered with a solid propellant rocket motor and many new technologies.

• Range: The missile has a range of 150-500 kilometre and can be launched from a mobile launcher.

• Pralay will be the longest-range surface-to-surface missile in the inventory of the Army.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/mission-2022-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-25-december-2021/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Launched by Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog.

• • It is an initiative to lower the language barrier in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship such that it will systematically decouple creative expressions and languages of transaction.

• It seeks to enable innovators and entrepreneurs to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages.

• Implementation: AIM has identified and will be training a Vernacular Task Force (VTF) in each of the 22 scheduled languages.
• It will assist in overcoming linguistic barriers and empowering innovators in the farthest parts of the country.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/12/25/mission-2022-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-25-december-2021/