[Mission 2022] Insta– QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 14 January 2022

Solution: b)

• For the first time, in 1966-67, the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat and paddy was fixed. To fix the price, the central government constituted the Agricultural Prices Commission, which was later renamed as the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) in 1985.
• This means that the minimum support price (MSP) system was introduced in the country to protect the interests of the farmers in general. Under this system, even if the price of a crop falls in the market, the central government procures it at the fixed MSP from the farmers so that they can be shielded against losses.
• The MSP of a crop is the same throughout the country.
• The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was constituted in 1965 on the recommendation of the LK Jha Committee. The government stores the grains procured from the farmers with the FCI and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) from where the grains are distributed to the poor under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
• Since 2009, the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices fixes the minimum support price of a crop based on cost, demand, supply position, price changes, market price trend, different costs and international market prices.
• The Ministry of Agriculture also claims that the cost of production of cultivation does not only include cash expenditure (as per market) but also the cost of labour (as per market rate). This means that agricultural wage rate is also considered while setting up of the MSP.

Source

Solution: c)

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has unveiled the Drone Rules, 2021 based on “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring”.

As part of the initiatives to make India a global hub for drones under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and in the backdrop of the Union Government rolling out the liberalised Drone Rules 2021, experts suggested the heads of various Ministries promote effective use of the technology.

The drone technology in the SVAMITVA scheme launched by the Government of India, within less than a year, has helped about half a million village residents to get their property cards by mapping out the abadi areas.

Solution: d)

The appointment of ECs falls within the purview of Article 324(2) of the Constitution, which establishes the institution. Pertinently, it contains a ‘subject to’ clause which provides that both the number and tenure of the ECs shall be “subject to provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President.”

It was left to Parliament to enact legislation regarding the appointment of ECs. Apart from enacting a law in 1989 enlarging the number of ECs from one to three, Parliament has so far not enacted any changes to the appointment process.

Election Commission is not only responsible for conducting free and fair elections but it also renders a quasi-judicial function between the various political parties including the ruling government and other parties.

Source

Solution: c)

The acronym ‘RTGS’ stands for Real Time Gross Settlement, which can be explained as a system where there is continuous and real-time settlement of fund-transfers, individually on a transaction by transaction basis. ‘Real Time’ means the processing of instructions at the time they are received; ‘Gross Settlement’ means that the settlement of funds transfer instructions occurs individually.

Considering that the funds settlement takes place in the books of the Reserve Bank of India, the payments are final and irrevocable.

National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is an electronic fund transfer system in which the transactions received up to a particular time are processed in batches. Contrary to this, in RTGS, the transactions are processed continuously on a transaction by transaction basis throughout the day.

RTGS is available 24x7x365 with effect from December 14, 2020.

The RTGS system is primarily meant for large value transactions. The minimum amount to be remitted through RTGS is ₹ 2,00,000/- with no upper or maximum ceiling.

Solution: a)

Banihal pass is a popular pass in Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in the Pir- Panjal Range. It connects Banihal with Qazigund.

Shipki La is located through Sutlej Gorge. It connects Himachal Pradesh with Tibet. It is India’s third border post for trade with China after Lipu Lekh and Nathula Pass.

Lipu Lekh is located in Uttarakhand. It connects Uttarakhand with Tibet. This pass is an important border post for trade with China.