[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 21 July 2023

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Changes in a river’s course in the northern part of the country is not unusual. One of the reasons is believed to be the movement of the Indian Tectonic Plate.

The Plate has been moving northward. That is the reason the Himalayas are rising. One reason for the course of the Yamuna moving eastwards too is believed to be this.

Also, it is more likely for a river to change course in the alluvial plains of North India.

“Alluvial terrain is soft and more amenable to changing river courses. If we look at the course of the Ganga between 1786 and now, there are places where it has changed its course by 34 km. In Badaun (UP) the river has moved 10 km from where it used to be.

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Solution: c)

The Earth’s geological time scale is a fundamental tool used by geologists, palaeontologists and other scientists to study the planet’s past. It is a system that divides the history of the Earth into discrete intervals of time, based on events, such as the evolution and extinction of different living beings and processes that have occurred.

It is divided into five broad categories: eons, epochs, eras, periods, and ages. As of now, at least officially, we’re in the Phanerozoic eon, Cenozoic era, Quaternary period, Holocene epoch and the Meghalayan age.

Anthropocene epoch — a proposed geological epoch that began when the human impact started to radically alter the Earth’s ecosystem and geology.

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Solution: d)

The framework for the use of local currencies for transactions between India and the UAE aims to put in place a Local Currency Settlement System (LCSS). The creation of the LCSS would enable exporters and importers to invoice and pay in their respective domestic currencies, which in turn would enable the development of an INR-AED foreign exchange market, according to the RBI. This arrangement would also promote investments and remittances between the two countries. The use of local currencies would optimise transaction costs and settlement time for transactions, including for remittances from Indians residing in UAE.

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Solution: a)

Only statement 1 is correct.

Emergency financial powers were granted to the armed forces by the Defence Ministry in the past on three occasions, post the Uri surgical strikes in 2016, the Balakot air strike in 2019 and the 2020 standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.

Under the FTP route, the forces can procure weapons systems upto ₹300 crores on an “urgent basis without any further clearances to cut short the procurement cycle.

Such acquisitions are applicable for both indigenous sources and ex-import.

FTP acquisitions can be categorised as under.

. Procurement of equipment already inducted into Service.

. Procurement of new equipment.

. Procurement of weapon system/platform, which is in service in a friendly foreign country and is available for transfer/lease or sale.

Solution: c)

Yangtse in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh is often targeted by Chinese PLA troops. Yangtse is one of the 25 contested areas along the 3488-km Line of Actual Control between the two countries, stretching from the Western Sector to Middle Sector to Eastern Sector.