Daily Current Affairs MCQ UPSC / IAS / 11-06-19 | PDF Downloads

 
MCQ 1
1. The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) is a PSU of the Government of India that has been designed to develop new stations and redevelop existing Indian railway stations
2. IRSDC is a joint venture between IRCON and RLDA with a 51:49 equity shareholding ratio respectively
Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• The Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) is a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the Government of India that has been designed to develop new stations and redevelop existing Indian railway stations. IRSDC is a joint venture between IRCONand RLDA with a 51:49 equity shareholding ratio respectively.
•  ISRDC was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 on 12 April 2012
• Ircon International Limited, formerly Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON), is an engineering and construction, specialized in transport infrastructure. The PSU was established in 1976, by the Government of India under the Companies Act 1956. IRCON was registered as the Indian Railway Construction International Ltd., a wholly (100%) owned entity of the Ministry of Railways. Its primary charter was the construction of railway projects in India and abroad. Ircon has since diversified into other transport and infrastructure segments and with its expanded scope of operations around the world, the name was changed to Indian Railway International Ltd. in October 1995.
•  The Ircon is well known for undertaking challenging infrastructure projects, especially in difficult terrains in India and abroad. Ircon has completed over 1250 major infrastructure projects in India and over 200 major projects across the globe in more than 31 countries
• The Rail Land Development Authority {हिन्दी: रेल भूहि हिकास प्राहिकरण} (RLDA) is an Indian government authority for the development of unused railway land. The Indian Planning Commission has estimated a requirement of Rs 2,0272 billion (US$494 billion) as investment in infrastructure during the Eleventh Plan period. Of this, the requirement for Railways is anticipated as Rs 2800 billion (including Rs 300 billion only for the Dedicated Freight Corridor). As much as Rs 2324 billion (83%) of this requirement is expected to be met by investment from the public sector.
• RLDA has a 49% equity share in Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation.
• The need for considerable increase in internal generation of resources for such investment had been realised by the Indian Railways for some time. However, focused efforts in this direction commenced in 2001 when the idea of setting up a special purpose vehicle to generate non-tariff revenues through commercial exploitation of railway land took shape. The efforts culminated in the setting up of the Rail Land Development Authority on 1 November 2006.

Ministry of Railway

• Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) enters into Tripartite Agreement with French National Railways (SNCF) & AFD, a French Agency
• AFD a French agency, has agreed to provide in-kind grant financing up to 7,00,000 EURO, through French National Railways (SNCF)-Hubs and Connexions as a Technical Partner to IRSDC to support the Railway Station Development Program in India
• This will impose no financial liability on IRSDC or Indian Railways
• Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC) entered an Tripartite Agreement with French Railways (SNCF) & AFD, a French Agency on 10th June, 2019. On this occasion, Shri Suresh Angadi, Minister of State of Railways and H. E. Mr. Jean Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister of State, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Government of France, H.E. Mr Alexandre Ziegler, Ambassador of France in India & senior officers were present from both side.
•  Under this agreement, AFD a French agency, has agreed to provide in-kind grant financing up to 7,00,000 EURO, through French National Railways (SNCF)-Hubs and Connexions as a Technical Partner to IRSDC to support the Railway Station Development Program in India. This will impose no financial liability on IRSDC or Indian Railways.
• Speaking on this occasion, Shri Suresh Angadi, Minister of State said, “India and France have a strong and long-standing prosperous partnership in the Railway sector. French Railways (SNCF) in the past has been associated with Indian Railways in conducting speed upgradation study for Delhi-Chandigarh section and station development of Ludhiana & Ambala stations. I am sure that this effort will go a long way in further strengthening Indo-French cooperation and will help Indian Railways in positioning its stations to world class standards.”

MCQ 2
1. International Centre for Automotive Technology is located in New Delhi
2. ICAT is the premier testing and certification agency owned by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for providing testing and certification services to the vehicle and component manufacturers in India and abroad
Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• Ministry of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises
• ICAT Releases India’s 1st BS – VI Certificate in Two Wheeler Segment
• International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) released India’s first Type Approval Certificate (TAC) for Bharat Stage – VI (BS – VI) norms for the two-wheeler segment in New Delhi today.
• The certificate was released and handed over by Director ICAT, Dinesh Tyagi to top officials of the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers).
• Speaking on this occasion Dinesh Tyagi said that this is India’s first certification in the two wheeler segment for the BS – VI norms that are the latest emission norms as notified by the Government of India. He said that ICAT has taken many steps in providing assistance and support to the automotive industry for the development, optimization and calibration of engines and vehicles for complying with these upcoming emission norms.
• Bharat Stage norms are the automotive emission norms which the automotive manufacturers have to comply to sell their vehicles in India. These norms are applicable to all two wheelers, three wheelers, four wheelers and construction equipment vehicles.
• To curb growing menace of air pollution through the vehicles emission, the Government of India has decided to leapfrog from the exiting BS – IV norms to the BS- VI, thereby skipping the BS – V norms, and to implement the BS – VI norms with effect from 1 st April 2020.Only those vehicles will be sold and registered in India from 1 st April 2020 onwards, which comply to these norms. The norms are stringent and at par with global standards.
• Last year, ICAT issued the approval for BS –VI norms to M/s Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles for the Heavy Commercial Vehicle segment which was also the first in its segment in India.
• ICAT is the premier testing and certification agency authorized by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for providing testing and certification services to the vehicle and component manufacturers in India and abroad. It has the latest equipment, facilities and capabilities to develop, validate, test and certify the engines and vehicles for the latest norms in the field of emission and many other facilities like crash lab, NVH lab, EMC lab and test tracks.
• International Centre for Automotive Technology is located at Manesar in Gurugram district of Haryana state of India. The Rs 1100 crore facility has facilities for vehicle homologation and also testing laboratories for noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) and passive safety. It also includes a powertrain laboratory, engine dynamometers, emission laboratory with Euro-V capability, a fatigue laboratory, passive safety laboratory, and vehicle test tracks. iCAT is also being developed as a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for component development and NVH

Facilities

• The following facilities are being provided-
• Active & passive safety testing
• Component evaluation testing
• Fatigue testing
• Material testing
• EMI / EMC laboratory
• Noise Vibration Harshness
• Powertrain
• Vehicle Evaluation Facilities & Homologation Test Tracks
• Vehicle evaluation
• Engine Test Lab
• Vehicle test cell
• On road testing
• Bharat stage emission standards (BSES) are emission standards instituted by the Government of India to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engines and Spark-ignition engines equipment, including motor vehicles. The standards and the timeline for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment & Forests and climate change.
•  The standards, based on European regulations were first introduced in 2000. Progressively stringent norms have been rolled out since then. All new vehicles manufactured after the implementation of the norms have to be compliant with the regulations. Since October 2010, Bharat Stage (BS) III norms have been enforced across the country. In 13 major cities, Bharat Stage IV emission norms have been in place since April 2010 and it has been enforced for entire country since April 2017. In 2016, the Indian government announced that the country would skip the BS-V norms altogether and adopt BS-VI norms by 2020.
•  In its recent judgment, the Supreme Court has banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV in the entire country from April 1, 2020.
• On November 15, 2017 The Petroleum Ministry of India in consultation with Public Oil Marketing Companies decided to bring forward the date of BS-VI grade auto fuels in NCT of Delhi with effect from April 1, 2018 instead of April 1, 2020. In fact, Petroleum Ministry OMCs were asked to examine the possibility of introduction of BS-VI auto fuels in the whole of NCR area from April 1, 2019. This huge step was taken due the heavy problem of air pollution faced by Delhi which became worse around this year. The decision was met with disarray by the automobile companies as they had planned the development according to roadmap for 2020.
• The phasing out of 2-stroke engine for two wheelers, the cessation of production of Maruti 800 & introduction of electronic controls have been due to the regulations related to vehicular emissions.
• While the norms help in bringing down pollution levels, it invariably results in increased vehicle cost due to the improved technology & higher fuel prices. However, this increase in private cost is offset by savings in health costs for the public, as there is lesser amount of disease causing particulate matter and pollution in the air. Exposure to air pollution can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, which is estimated to be the cause for 6.2 lakh early deaths in 2010, and the health cost of air pollution in India has been assessed at 3% of its GDP.

MCQ 3
Choose correct regarding Lothal
1. Its a UNESCO World Heritage Site
2. According to the ASI, Lothal had the world’s earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra
3. Its located in Bhal region of Haryana
(A) 1 & 2
(B) 2 & 3
(C) 2 only
(D) All

India, Portugal to join hands in setting up maritime museum

• It is likely to come up on the lines of a similar museum at Lisbon, which is administered by the Portuguese Navy India and Portugal will cooperate in the setting up of a national maritime heritage museum at Lothal in Gujarat.
• The Indian Navy is keen to be a stakeholder in the project and the Portuguese Navy has agreed to assist with their experience of administering the maritime museum in Lisbon, according to defence sources.
• Initial discussions were held during the visit of Portuguese Defence Minister João Gomes Cravinho to India in April.
• “It was agreed that we could work together to develop the maritime museum at the ancient Indian site of Lothal. Portugal Navy looks after their museum in Lisbon so it was discussed that we in India could follow a similar model,” a defence source said. A Defence Ministry-led delegation would visit Portugal to study the existing museum, the source added.
• The Government of India has allocated a grant for building the maritime museum and the foundation stone for the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March.
• The project is being implemented by the Ministry of Shipping through its Sagarmala programme, with the involvement of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the State government and other stakeholders.

MCQ 4
Many times in news we hear about advance authorization scheme. It is related to
A. Duty-free export
B. Duty-free import
C. NPA crisis
D. Project Clearances from the environment ministry

• Imports from Pakistan plunged 92% in March after imposition of 200% customs duties
• According to the data of the commerce ministry, the imports from the neighbouring country stood at $34.61 million in March 2018.
• Imports from Pakistan declined by 92 percent to $2.84 million in March this year after imposition of 200 percent customs duties on all products following Pulwama
  terror attack.
• As per some experts, keeping in mind that importing goods at 200% customs duties would not be viable for anyone, thus government has allowed few domestic manufacturing exporters to avail Nil(0%) import duty benefit under Advance Authorisation Scheme to import products, especially raw materials from Pakistan.
• Advance Authorization Scheme ASS is one of the incentive schemes provided by Indian Government through its government agency called DGFT – Director General of Foreign Trade.
•  Under Advance authorization Scheme AAS, exporter can import rawmaterials and related inputs under 100% duty exemption schemes. The importer has to approach DGFT who is the licensing authority under this category. Government fixes value addition as per the standard input-output norms. Once you fulfills the export obligation with the licensing authority, you can sell the manufactured products in domestic market.

MCQ 5
1. The National Cancer Grid (NCG) was announced in budget 2018-19
2. It is Funded by the Government of India through the Department of Health
3. Tata Memorial Centre functions as the coordinating centre on behalf of The National Cancer Grid of India.
Choose correct
(A) 1 & 2
(B) 2 only
(C) 3 only
(D) 2 & 3

• Press Information Bureau Government of India Ministry of Science & Technology MoU for Joint Collaboration on Cancer Research
• The Department of Biotechnology (DBT), M/o Science and Technology and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India today signed an MOU for supporting joint collaborative research programmes in the area of Cancer. Signing the MoU, Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary DBT and Shri K N Vyas, Secretary DAE expressed solidarity to work towards the common goal of tackling cancer and this is expected to bring a quantum change in the present scenario of cancer research. The DAE is represented by its Tata Memorial Centre and which also functions as the coordinating centre on behalf of The National Cancer Grid of India.
• The National Cancer Grid is a network of major cancer centers, research institutes, patient groups and charitable institutions across India with the mandate of establishing uniform standards of patient care for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, providing specialized training and education in oncology and facilitating collaborative basic, translational and clinical research in cancer.
• Cancer is expected to be a major problem in developing countries like India. The International Agency for Research on Cancer GLOBOCAN project estimated that the burden of cancer in India is likely to almost double with an estimated incidence of 1 million cases in 2012 to about 1.7 million in 2035.
• Importantly, the number of cancer deaths is expected to rise from 680,000 in 2012 to 1.2 million in 2035.
• The mortality: incidence ratio of 0.68 in India is far higher than that in very high human development index (HDI) countries (0.38) and high HDI countries (0.57).
• The National Cancer Grid (NCG) was formed in August 2012 with the mandate of linking cancer centers across India.
• A modest initiative, which originally had 14 cancer centers, has rapidly grown now to include 52 major cancer centers virtually covering the entire length and breadth of the country and is amongst the largest cancer networks in the world. Funded by the Government of India through the Department of Atomic Energy, the NCG has the primary mandate of working towards uniform standards of care across India by adopting evidence-based management guidelines, which are implementable across these centers.
•  It is also intended to facilitate the exchange of expertise between centers and to create a ready network of centers for collaborative research in cancer
• The NCG is uniquely positioned to shape cancer policy in India — the leaders in cancer care, education and research in India are primarily members of the NCG, reflecting in a major contribution to a Lancet Oncology commission on challenges to effective cancer control in India, China and Russia.
• With the strength of 52 cancer centers behind it, which caters to a large proportion of India’s cancer patients, the NCG has the natural ability to identify the burden of cancer real-time and plan strategies to address specific problems. One of the longer term targets of the NCG is to come up with a national cancer plan which would have the formidable task of improving the mortality: incidence ratio from the current level to that of the higher HDI countries. The real success of the NCG will be apparent when overall cancer outcomes in India improve considerably, parallel with patients getting the highest quality cancer care at their doorsteps.

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