Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 11-07-19 | PDF Downloads

 
MCQ 1

1. India ranks 2 nd in global milk production after China
2. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is implementing World Bank assisted National Dairy Plan – I
3. It’s a centrally sponsored scheme

Choose correct
(A) 1 & 2
(B) 2 & 3
(C)2 only
(D) 3 only

• India’s milk production increased from 165.40 MMT in 2016-17 to 176.35 MMT in 2017-18, a growth rate of 6.62 per cent.
• The country ranks first in global milk production.
• The per capita availability of milk in India during 2017-18 was 375 gm/day and by 2023-24, it is estimated to increase to 592 gm/day.
• Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is implementing World Bank assisted National Dairy Plan – I in 18 States to support milk cooperatives and milk producer companies along with breeding improvement initiative.

Key features of the scheme:

• National Dairy Plan Phase I (NDP I) is a Central Sector Scheme.
• Funding will be through a line of credit from the International Development Association (IDA), which along with the share of the Government of India will flow from DADF to NDDB and in turn to eligible End Implementing Agencies (EIAs).
• NDP I will focus on 18 major milk producing states namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh which together account for over 90% of the country’s milk production.

Objectives:

• To help increase productivity of milch animals and thereby increase milk production to meet the rapidly growing demand for milk.
• To help provide rural milk producers with greater access to the organised milkprocessing sector.
• End Implementation Agencies (EIAs) would be State Cooperative Dairy Federations; District Cooperative Milk Producers Unions; Cooperative form of enterprises such as Producer Companies; State Livestock Development Boards; Central Cattle Breeding Farms (CCBF), Central Frozen Semen Production and Training Institute (CFSP&TI), Regional Stations for Forage Production and Demonstration (RSFP&D); Registered Societies/ Trusts (NGOs); Section 25 Companies, subsidiaries of statutory bodies, ICAR Institutes and Veterinary/ Dairy Institutes/Universities that meet the eligibility criteria for each activity as may be decided by the National Steering Committee (NSC).

MCQ 2

1. Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) is by ministry of agriculture
2. It’s a kind of livelihood scheme for female farmers

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• Aajeevika – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) was launched by the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India in June 2011.
• Aided in part through investment support by the World Bank, the Mission aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor, enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial services.
• NRLM set out with an agenda to cover 7 Crore rural poor households, across 600 districts, 6000 blocks, 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats and 6 lakh villages in the country through self-managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and federated institutions and support them for livelihoods collectives in a period of 8-10 years.
• In addition, the poor would be facilitated to achieve increased access to rights, entitlements and public services, diversified risk and better social indicators of empowerment. DAY-NRLM believes in harnessing the innate capabilities of the poor and complements them with capacities (information, knowledge, skills, tools, finance and collectivization) to participate in the growing economy of the country.
• In November 2015, the program was renamed Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana (DAYNRLM).
• Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY) with an aim to uplift the urban poor folks by enhancing sustainable livelihood opportunities through skill development. Keeping in view the objective of Make in India, Skill Development is essential for socio economic betterment. Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana was launched under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA). Government of India has provisioned Rs.500 crore for the scheme.
• The scheme is integration of the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) and National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
• National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) is renamed as Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-(DAY-NULM) and in Hindi as – Rashtriya Shahri Aajeevika Mission. Under the scheme urban areas extends the coverage to all the 4041 statutory cities and towns, there by covering almost the entire urban population. Currently, all the urban poverty alleviating programmes covered only 790 towns and cities.

MCQ 3

1. The Dragonfly mission is a component of Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) by NASA
2. Its a unmanned solar powered drone for Saturn’s moon Titan

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
 (D) None

• Dragonfly aims to search for signs of microbial alien life on Saturn’s moon Titan, while navigating its earth-like gravity and aerodynamics in the process.
• The mission will succeed NASA’s Cassini probe, which ended its 13-year mission orbiting Saturn in September 2017 by diving into Saturn’s atmosphere. Dragonfly mission is a part of NASA’s New Frontiers program, which includes a series of space exploration missions, which are being conducted with the purpose of researching several of the Solar System bodies, including the dwarf planet Pluto.
• The New Frontiers programme also includes Pluto probe New Horizons, Jupiter probe Juno and OSIRIS-Rex asteroid mission.
• The Dragonfly mission replaces a previously discontinued concept project called Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM), which required a balloon probe to circumnavigate Titan.
• Why study Titan?
• Titan is an analog to the very early Earth, and can provide clues to how life may have arisen on our planet.
• Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and is the second largest moon in our solar system.
• As it orbits Saturn, it is about 886 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) away from the Sun, about 10 times farther than Earth. Because it is so far from the Sun, its surface temperature is around -290 degrees Fahrenheit (-179 degrees Celsius). Its surface pressure is also 50 percent higher than Earth’s.
• Objectives of the mission:
• Explore diverse environments from organic dunes to the floor of an impact crater where liquid water and complex organic materials key to life once existed together for possibly tens of thousands of years.
• Study how far prebiotic chemistry may have progressed.
• Investigate the moon’s atmospheric and surface properties and its subsurface ocean and liquid reservoirs.
• Search for chemical evidence of past or extant life.

MCQ 4
Recently in news, regulatory consistency assessment programme (RCAP) is related to

1. Iran nuclear facility
2. Global standard for the prudential regulation of banks
3. Mid-term strategy by RBI for banking regulatory framework
4. Central sector schemes implementation

Context:

• An assessment of compliance with Basel Norms was recently conducted by the Regulatory Consistency Assessment Programme (RCAP). RCAP is part of the Basel committee.
• The assessment focused on the completeness and consistency of the domestic regulations in force on 7 June 2019, as applied to commercial banks in India, with the Basel large exposures framework.
• Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks, has 45 members, comprising central banks and bank supervisors from 28 jurisdictions.
• The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) norms on large exposures for banks are not only compliant with the Basel requirements, they are stricter in some areas as well.
• This is highest possible grade. In some other respects, the Indian regulations are stricter than the Basel large exposures framework. For example, banks’ exposures to global systemically important banks are subject to stricter limits, in line with the letter and spirit of the Basel Guidelines, and the scope of application of the Indian standards is wider than just the internationally active banks covered by the Basel framework.
• What are Basel guidelines?
• Basel guidelines refer to broad supervisory standards formulated by group of central banks- called the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The set of agreement by the BCBS, which mainly focuses on risks to banks and the financial system are called Basel accord.
• Basel is a city in Switzerland which is also the headquarters of Bureau of International Settlement (BIS).
• The purpose of the accords is to ensure that financial institutions have enough capital on account to meet obligations and absorb unexpected losses.

BASEL-I:

• Introduced in 1988.
• Focused almost entirely on credit risk, it defined capital and structure of risk weights for banks.
• The minimum capital requirement was fixed at 8% of risk-weighted assets (RWA).
• India adopted Basel 1 guidelines in 1999.

BASEL-II:

• Published in 2004.
• The guidelines were based on three parameters:
• Banks should maintain a minimum capital adequacy requirement of 8% of risk assets.
• Banks were needed to develop and use better risk management techniques in monitoring and managing all the three types of risks that is credit and increased disclosure requirements.
• The three types of risk are- operational risk, market risk, capital risk. Banks need to mandatory disclose their risk exposure to the central bank.

Basel III:

• In 2010, Basel III guidelines were released. These guidelines were introduced in response to the financial crisis of 2008.
• Basel III norms aim at making most banking activities such as their trading book activities more capital-intensive.
• The guidelines aim to promote a more resilient banking system by focusing on four vital banking parameters viz. capital, leverage, funding and liquidity.
• Presently Indian banking system follows Basel II norms.

MCQ 5

1. Maritime Anti-Corruption Network is established by UN secretariat
2. It’s a intergovernmental network for a maritime industry free of corruption

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) is a global business network working towards the vision of a maritime industry free of corruption that enables fair trade to the benefit of society at large. Established in 2011 by a small group of committed maritime companies, MACN has grown to include over 100 members globally, and has become one of the pre-eminent examples of collective action to tackle corruption.
• MACN and its members work towards the elimination of all forms of maritime corruption by: raising awareness of the challenges faced; implementing the MACN Anti-Corruption Principles and co-developing and sharing best practices; collaborating with governments, non-governmental organizations, and civil society to identify and mitigate the root causes of corruption; and creating a culture of integrity within the maritime community.
• The MACN Secretariat
• MACN is a member-led initiative operating under BSR, a global business network focused on sustainability. BSR (hereafter referred to as “MACN Secretariat”) provides the Secretariat function for MACN. The MACN secretariat is responsible for progressing with MACN’s strategic workplans (including MACN’s 2020 strategy), ensuring good governance, and managing MACN’s day-to-day work, including with its members, third parties, and funders

BSR (Business for Social Responsibility)

• BSR™ is a global nonprofit organization that works with its network of more than 250 member companies and other partners to build a just and sustainable world. From its offices in Asia, Europe, and North America, BSR™ develops sustainable business strategies and solutions through consulting, research, and cross-sector collaboration. Learn more about BSR’s 25 years of leadership in sustainability.

MCQ 6

1. Bt cotton and Bt brinjal are only genetically modified crop permitted for cultivation in the country.
2. Herbicide-tolerant Bt (HT Bt) Cotton is genetically modified crop of unapproved genes which is permissible in India.

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D)None

• A few Haryana farmers have defied a government restriction against sowing banned HT Bt Cotton in Hisar. However, the government is determined to curb its spread.

What is HT Bt cotton?

• Herbicide-tolerant Bt (HT Bt) Cotton is genetically modified crop of unapproved genes which is not permissible in India.
• Technically, herbicide is like a poison which is used to destroy unwanted vegetation.
• The technique in the HT Bt Cotton makes the crop resistant to herbicide following modification in genes of the seeds. Normally, when an herbicide is sprayed, then it destroys unwanted vegetation along with causing harm the cotton crop also. So, farmers use less herbicide in their fields. But with the introduction of HT Bt Cotton, there won’t be any impact of herbicide on the cotton crop while the unwanted vegetation will be destroyed. This will lead to more use of chemicals in fields causing harm to other crops.

What’s the extent of HT Bt Cotton in India?

• In the absence of government approval, production of HT Bt seed is illegal, but farmers say it’s available in those states where its being grown defying the laws.
• A section of farmers have started sowing its seeds particularly in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the past few years.
• A government panel had found that the HT Bt Cotton was grown in 15 per cent of the areas in these states during 2017-18 while this percentage was 5 per cent for Punjab

Why is it preferred by the farmers?

• According to supporters of HT Bt Cotton, its preferred to reduce the cost of labour as de-weeding is an extremely labour intensive activity involving 40 per cent of the total cost for growing cotton.
• The farmers have felt the impact of HT Bt Cotton in terms of lower costs and reduced crop losses leading to higher production and income.
• Bt crops in India:
• Indian government in 2010 had imposed a moratorium, leaving Bt Cotton as the only genetically modified crop permitted for cultivation in the country.
• What do the opponents of HT Bt Cotton say?
• Such seeds will cause more diseases among humans and animals apart from causing damage to the environment.
• Do we need GM crops?
• Yes and why?
• Higher crop yields.
• Reduced farm costs.
• Increased farm profit.
• Improvement in health and the environment.
• No and why?
• Lack of clarity: It is clear that the technology of genetic engineering is an evolving one and there is much, especially on its impact on human health and environment that is yet to be understood properly. The scientific community itself seems uncertain about this.
• While there are many in this community who feel that the benefits outweigh the risks, others point to the irreversibility of this technology and uncontrollability of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) once introduced in the ecosystem. Hence, they advocate a precautionary approach towards any open release of GMOs.
• Threat to domestic crops: One of the concerns raised strongly by those opposing GM crops in India is that many important crops like rice, brinjal, and mustard, among others, originated here, and introducing genetically modified versions of these crops could be a major threat to the vast number of domestic and wild varieties of these crops.
• In fact, globally, there is a clear view that GM crops must not be introduced in centres of origin and diversity.India also has mega biodiversity hotspots like the Eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats which are rich in biodiversity yet ecologically very sensitive. Hence it will only be prudent for us to be careful before we jump on to the bandwagon of any technology.
• There is also a potential for pests to evolve resistance to the toxins produced by GM crops and the risk of these toxins affecting nontarget organisms. There is also the danger of unintentionally introducing allergens and other anti-nutrition factors in foods.

MCQ 7

1. Indian Army has placed an order for procuring Anti-Tank Spike missiles.
2. DRDO with Russian agency is developing that.

Choose correct
(A)Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
MCQ 8

1. Dutee Chand, the Indian sprinter won gold medal in women’s 200m in World Universiade, 30th Summer University Games held in Naples, Italy.
2. She hails from Kerala

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

She became the first Indian to win a 100m gold in a global event.

• Del Ponte (11.33 seconds) of Switzerland won silver
• Lisa KwaYie (11.39 seconds) of Germany won bronze.
• She has now become only 2nd Indian sprinter to win gold in a global event after Hima Das. Das won top spot in 400m in World Junior Athletics Champions in 2018
• She won silver each in 100m and 200m in 2018 Asian Games.
• She is also only 2nd Indian track and field athlete to win gold in World Universiade. Earlier, Inderjeet Singh had won top spot in men’s shot put event in 2015.

MCQ 9

1. India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was established after a bilateral MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed between India’s NITI Aayog and Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development of Russian Federation.
2. 1st meeting recently happened in New Delhi

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• It was established after a bilateral MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed between India’s NITI Aayog and Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development of Russian Federation. The MoU was signed during 19th edition of Annual India-Russia Bilateral Summit which was held on 5 October 2018, in New Delhi.
• 1st IRSED was held in St. Petersburg in Russia from 25-26 November 2018. It was chaired by Russia’s Minister of Economic Development of Russian Federation Mr. Maxim Oreshkin and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog.
• Six Core Areas of Cooperation focused on 2nd IRSED meeting

1. Development of Transport Infrastructure and Technologies
2. Development of Agriculture and Agro-Processing sector
3. Small and Medium Business support
4. Digital Transformation and Frontier
5. Technologies Cooperation in Trade, Banking, Finance, and Industry
6. Tourism & Connectivity.

MCQ 10
World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) minimum threshold is for health workers per 10,000 population ?

1. 38
2. 20
3. 10
4. 22.8

• In a recent study carried out by researchers from Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), Gurugram on ‘Size, composition and distribution of human resource for health in India: New estimates using National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) and Registry institutions’ data’ has revealed that India has an adequate number of health professionals.
• Density of Total Health Workers: is estimated to be 29 per 10,000 populations. This is based on NSSO and 38 per 10,000 population based on registration data, which is close to World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) minimum threshold of 22.8 health workers per 10,000 population.

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