[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 18 August 2023

Solution: d)

The actual number of membership of the Select Committee is not fixed; it varies from Committee to Committee. If it is a Joint Committee, the proportion of members from the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha is 1:2. The Chairman of the Committee is appointed by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from among the members of the Committee.

The member or Minister in-charge of the Bill is generally included as a member of the Committee.

The quorum for each sitting needs to be one-third of the total number of members of the committee. In case of equality of votes on any matter, the chairman (or any other person presiding) will have a second or casting vote.

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Solution: b)

Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is a lunar lander being developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

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Solution: d)

Inter-services organisations include soldiers from the Army, the Air Force and the Navy, like joint training institutes National Defence Academy, National Defence College (NDC), Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), and the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC).

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Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The Assam Rifles are a central armed police force.

The AR is one of the six central armed police forces (CAPFs) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The other five forces are the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).

The AR is tasked with maintaining law and order in the Northeast along with the Indian Army. It also guards the Indo-Myanmar border. The AR have a sanctioned strength of more than 63,000 personnel, organised in 46 battalions, apart from administrative and training staff.

It is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure. While the administrative control of the force is with the MHA, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

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Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Landraces refer to naturally occurring variants of commonly cultivated crops. These are as opposed to commercially grown crops, which are developed by selective breeding (hybrids) or through genetic engineering to express a certain trait over others. 

Biodiversity allows a natural mechanism for crops to develop traits to face challenging situations. However, given the large-scale human interference in crop selection, that ability is now lost in most commercially crops

Naturally occurring landraces have a large pool of still untapped genetic material, which can provide solutions. Genetic diversity is nature’s survival mechanism. The wider the gene pool, the more the chance of developing a trait that can help in surviving extreme climate events.

kalbhat, a unique landrace of scented rice. Over the years, this variant had almost vanished from cultivators’ fields as hybrid variants became popular. It has better climate resilience than popularly grown rice and can withstand flood or drought better.