[MISSION 2024] RTM(Revision through MCQs)- 1 July 2023

Ans: (b)

Explanation

• Context: National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) recently released the India Rankings for 2023, evaluating higher education institutions based on various parameters.
• What is NIRF Ranking?
  • National Institutional Ranking Framework is a methodology developed by the Ministry of Education (formerly the Ministry of Human Resource Development) in India to rank higher education institutions in the country. It was launched in September 2015 and aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of institutions based on various parameters.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/national-institutional-ranking-framework-nirf/

Ans: (d)

Explanation

• Context: The US-China chips war has prompted India to position itself as a player in the semiconductor technology field through a significant partnership with the US.
• Option 1 is incorrect because semiconductors actually have relatively low resistance to electric current flow, which is why they are used extensively in electronic devices such as transistors and integrated circuits.
• Option 2 is incorrect because while semiconductors are indeed used in electronic devices, their applications go far beyond energy storage. They are crucial components in various devices, including computer processors, memory chips, solar cells, and many more.
• Option 3 is incorrect because semiconductors play a significant role in the performance of computer processors. The miniaturized transistors and integrated circuits made from semiconductor materials enable the functionality and speed of modern processors.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/us-china-chips-war/

Ans: (c )

Explanation:

• Context: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) has imposed quantity restrictions on states to procure two food grains (wheat and rice) through its Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS).
• The economic cost of food grains procured by the FCI is a total of MSP and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus the procurement incidentals and distribution cost. See https://www.indiabudget.gov.in/es2004-05/chapt2005/chap513.pdf
• The procurement incidentals are the initial costs incurred during procurement of foodgrains. The distribution costs include freight, handling charges, storage costs in godowns, losses during transit etc.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/the-open-market-sale-scheme/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• It is a soft, silvery-white metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element. It is highly reactive and flammable and must be stored in mineral oil.
• Countries with Largest Reserves:
  • Chile> Australia> Argentina
  • Lithium Triangle: Chile, Argentina, Bolivia.
• Lithium in India:
  • Recently, the Geological Survey of India has for the first-time established Lithium ‘inferred’ resources(G3) of about 6 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the UT of Jammu & Kashmir. Lithium reserves were also discovered on Revant Hill in Degana in Rajasthan’s Nagaur district and Karnataka Mandya district

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/lithium-deal/

Ans: (c)

Explanation

• Context: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released Sustainable Development Goals National Indicator Framework (NIF) Progress Report 2023.
• All of the statements about Sustainable Development Goals are true. The SDGs are a set of 17 goals that were adopted by the United Nations in 2015. The goals are a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. They cover a wide range of issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, and environmental protection.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/sdgs-national-indicator-framework-nif-progress-report-2023/

Ans: (b)

Explanation

• Context: The Government of India celebrates Statistics Day every year on June 29th in honour of the late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, who made significant contributions to the fields of Economics, Planning, and Statistics.
• Planning, in the real sense of the term, began with the Second Five Year Plan. The Second Plan, a landmark contribution to development planning in general, laid down the basic ideas regarding goals of Indian planning; this plan was based on the ideas of Mahalanobis. In that sense, he can be regarded as the architect of Indian planning.
• Industrial Policy Resolution 1956 (IPR 1956): In accordance with the goal of the state controlling the commanding heights of the economy, the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 was adopted. This resolution formed the basis of the Second Five Year Plan, the plan which tried to build the basis for a socialist pattern of society.
• In the first seven plans, trade was characterised by what is commonly called an inward-looking trade strategy. Technically, this strategy is called import substitution. This policy aimed at replacing or substituting imports with domestic production.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/statistics-day-4/

Ans: (a)

Explanation

• Context: The Government of India celebrates Statistics Day every year on June 29th in honour of the late Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, who made significant contributions to the fields of Economics, Planning, and Statistics.
• S1: the 2nd FYP was influenced by the Nehru-Mahalanobis plan leaning towards heavy industries. So, there was no substitution (rather emphasis) of capital goods and basic industries. S1 is incorrect.
• S2: The preface to the 4th FYP says :A sense of involvement, of participation by the people as a whole, is vital for the success of any plan of rapid economic growth. This can only be evoked by securing social justice, by reducing disparities of income and wealth, and by redessing regional imbalances.”……” The Fourth Plan thus provides a necessary corrective to the earlier trend which helped particularly the stronger sections in agriculture as well as in industry to enable them rapidly to enlarge and diversify the production base. In the long run, the full potential of growth cannot be realised unless the energies of all our people are put to profitable use.” Clearly, S2 is correct. See http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/4th/4ppre.htm
• S3: This is an ambiguous statement but seems to be incorrect based on our research.
• The First Five Year Plan document (1950) stated that:
• “Central banking in a planned economy can hardly be confined to the regulation of overall supply of credit or to a somewhat negative regulation of the flow of bank credit. It would have to take on a direct and active role, firstly in creating or helping to create the machinery needed for financing developmental activities all over the country and secondly ensuring that the finance available flows in the directions intended.” See https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/860/8/08_chapter%203.pdf Pg. 168. This implies that the financial sector was not at the backburner even from the first FYP.
• The second five-year plan envisaged setting up of industrial estates by State Governments through special corporations or agencies for assistance and financing of promotion/establishment of MSMEs. These agencies form the backbone of the financial sector for MSMEs.
• Also see this to review the highlights of each plan: http://mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/Statistical_year_book_india_chapters/Five%20Year%20Plan%20writeup_0.pdf , page 2 and see the foreword of the fifth plan at http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/5th/5vfore.htm . Both these official documents nowhere mention that the fifth FYP was the first to focus on financial reforms or that the financial sector was integral to the fifth FYP. The Fifth Plan, instead, gave top priority to cutting down inflation and poverty alleviation. Also, having referred various other sources (not possible to include them all here), we can say that S3 is incorrect.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/statistics-day-4/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The Republic of Rwanda is a landlocked country with land borders with four countries: Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (clockwise from the north). Water covers 1,390 sq.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/30/rwanda-policy/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Turkmenistan is located in the southwest of the Central Asia region. It is bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north and east, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south, and the Caspian Sea to the west.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/30/turkmenistan/

Ans: (b)

Explanation

• Context: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for ratification of the Headquarters Agreement (HQA) between the Government of India (Gol) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
• Launched by PM Modi in September 2019 at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit in New York, US.
• A platform where knowledge is generated and exchanged on different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure.
• It will create a mechanism to assist countries to upgrade their capacities and practices, with regard to infrastructure development in accordance with their risk context and economic needs.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/07/01/headquarters-agreement-hqa-between-india-and-cdri/