Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 27-07-19 | PDF Downloads

MCQ 1

1. Mela shikar is a practice of
2. Tribal festival of harvest
3. Practice in odisha by Kondhs
4. Climbing mountains where temple is located in southern india
5. A practice of elephant capturing

• Mela shikar is a traditional method of capturing wild elephants for captive use.
• The process involves lassoing a wild elephant from the back of a trained one, called a koonki.
• This practice is prevalent in the northeastern part of India, especially in Assam, and is one of the methods seen in ancient India. Other traditional elephant capture methods include: khedda, byle shikar, snaring, pit method, and decoying by using a female koonki to lure a male elephant. Mela shikar used to be organized twice a year – after Durga Puja and during Bihu
• Mela shikar requires the services of a skilled mahout or phandi. This person is able to lasso a wild elephant whilst mounted on another. The phandi, who is well regarded for his abilities, is accompanied by another mahout assistant. Phandis feature in the folklore of northeastern India. Since 1977, this and all other methods of capturing elephants are illegal, but prior to the 1977 legislation, mela shikar was used to lasso an estimated 300 to 400 elephants per year in Assam alone.
• Three distinct reasons make the mela shikar method a safe one.
• It is completely selective. It usually targets carefully studied and selected animals, preferably the younger, more pliable ones.
• The death rate is low, since comparatively few elephants are caught at one time with sufficient manpower to take care of the captives.
• Mortality during mahoutship and training is low, because all personnel engaged are highly skilled.
• Before 1977, elephants were under Schedule-II (Part-I) of the Wildlife Protection Act, which granted elephants the status of “special game” for which it could be killed, captured or traded commercially under license. In 1977, the elephant was brought under Schedule-I of the Act, which made its capture illegal. This ban led to the gradual extinction of a line of specially trained mahouts or phandis.
• According to S.S. Bisht, the former director of Project Elephant and senior forest service officer, “Under Section 12 of the Forest Protection Act, permission to catch elephants can only be given by the Centre for population control and scientific research. Last time such permission was given to Assam was in the ’80s”

MCQ 2

1. India launched ‘Operation Parakram’ to clear the Kargil sector of infiltration by Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
2. Safed Sagar, the Indian Air Force’s operation, was a major part of the Kargil war. It used air power at the height of 32,000 feet for the first time.

Choose correct

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

• Kargil Vijay Diwas:
• Context: Indian Army declared the Kargil mission successful on July 26, 1999; since then the day has been celebrated annually as Kargil Vijay Diwas.
• India launched ‘Operation Vijay’ to clear the Kargil sector of infiltration by Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants on the Indian side of the Line of Control.
• Background: The war took place between May and July of 1999 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kargil district. It began with the infiltration of both Pakistani troops and terrorists into Indian territory. The infiltrators positioned themselves in key locations that gave them a strategic advantage during the start of the conflict.
• Safed Sagar, the Indian Air Force’s operation, was a major part of the Kargil war. It used air power at the height of 32,000 feet for the first time.

MCQ 3

1. The Indian Territorial Army (TA) is the first line of defence on borders
2. It comes under ministry of home

 Choose correct

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

• MS Dhoni to begin Indian Army inning! Know details about Territorial Army that Mahi is joining in Kashmir
• MS Dhoni during his month-long stay completed his training with the Special Forces based in Agra in 2015 and also carried out five jumps to qualify as a paratrooper.
• Former captain of the Indian cricket team MS Dhoni is proceeding to join the 106 Territorial Army (TA) Battalion (Para) from July 31-Aug 15 and will not be joining the rest of his team for the West Indies series. As Lt Col (Honorary), he will be going to Kashmir where the unit is part of Victor Force on static duty. According to sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), “His request was in the pipeline and has now been approved by the Army Headquarters. He will be taking on the duties of patrolling, guard and post duty, and also be staying with the troops.”
• This move of Dhoni is going to create more awareness among the youth not only about the Armed forces but how they can be part of the TA. The 38- year-old former captain was awarded the honorary rank in 2011 along with Abhinav Bindra and Deepak Rao.
• India’s first Governor General Shri C Rajagopalachari formally inaugurated the Indian Territorial Army on October 9 in 1949.
• It is an organization where volunteers apply for a short period of training every year, so as to be ready to tackle any emergent situation or to serve for the defence of India.
• The Territorial Army, also known as the ‘Terriers’, is considered the second line of national defence after the regular Army.
• The Territorial Army is part of a Regular Army and its present role is to relieve the Regular Army from static duties and assist civil administration in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or the security of the country is threatened and to provide units for Regulars Army as and when required.
• Territorial Army comes under the Defence Ministry.
• What is the Territorial Army?
• The TA is part of the Indian Army and is meant for those who are in civilian professions.
• For joining the TA, an individual has to be employed, whether it is self-employment or in other services.
• The main role of the TA is to help the Indian Army in carrying out static duties as well as help out the civil administration during natural disasters.
• Those with the TA are called in to help in maintaining the supply of essential services in calamity hit areas or when the security of the country is involved.
• While they hold honorary ranks, in case needed they can be attached to regular army units to be part of operations depending on the approval of the Commanding Officers (CO) of respective units.
• The last time TA was involved in active operations was in 1962, 1965 and 1971. Known as “Terriers” they have taken part in Ops Pawan in Sri Lanka, Operation Rakshak in Punjab and J&K, Operation Rhino and Operation Bajrang in the North East.

MCQ 4

National Data Quality Forum (NDQF) is launched recently by

1. Ministry of Health
2. NITI aayog
3. Ministry of S & T
4. ICMR-NIMS

• Context: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s National Institute for Medical Statistics (ICMR-NIMS), in partnership with Population Council, has launched the National Data Quality Forum (NDQF).
• Aims:
• The NDQF aims at establishing protocols and good practices when dealing with data collection, storage, use and dissemination that can be applied to health and demographic data, as well as replicated across industries and sectors.
• The NDQF aims to do brainstorming, piloting and employ advanced modeling techniques in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and big data analytics along with using technology-based solutions to improve data quality.
• Roles and functions:
•  NDQF will integrate learnings from scientific and evidence-based initiatives and guide actions through periodic workshops and conferences.
• It will fetch quality data in upcoming health studies and surveys such as National Family Health Survey (NFHS).

Benefits and significance:

• Its activities will help establish protocols and good practices of data collection, storage, use and dissemination that can be applied to health and demographic data, as well as replicated across industries and sectors noted a release issued by ICMR.

Need:

• Data on health and demographics in India is plagued by incomplete information, overestimation, and under- and over-reporting that lead to hindrance in policy planning.

Challenges present:

• lack of comparability and poor usability of national level data sources.
• discordance between system and survey level estimates.
• increased questionnaire length and questions on socially restricted conversation topics that translate to poor data quality.
• age-reporting errors or non-response and intentional skipping of questions.
• underreporting due to subjective question interpretation and incompleteness.
• paucity of data to generate reliable estimates on mortality as major barriers to quality data.

MCQ 5

1. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the Phase-II of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme for achieving cumulative capacity of 40,000 MW from Rooftop Solar (RTS) Projects by the year 2025
2. In the Phase-II Programme Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for the residential sector has been restructured with availability of 40% CFA for RTS systems of all capacities

Choose correct

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

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for the Phase-II of Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Programme for achieving cumulative capacity of 40,000 MW from Rooftop Solar (RTS) Projects by the year 2022. The programme will be implemented with total central financial support of Rs.11,814 crore.
• In the Phase-II Programme Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for the residential sector has been restructured with availability of 40% CFA for RTS systems up to 3 kW capacity and 20% for RTS system capacity beyond 3 kW and up to 10 kW.
• For Group Housing Societies/Residential Welfare Associations (GHS/RAW), CFA will be limited to 20% for RTS plants for supply of power to common facilities, however, the capacity eligible for CFA for GHS/RAW will be limited to 10 kW per house with maximum total capacity upto 500 kWp, inclusive of RTS put in individual houses in the GHS/RWA.
• CFA under residential category will be provided for 4000 MW capacity and the same will be provided on the basis of benchmark cost or tender cost, which is lower.
• Central financial support will not be available for other category i.e., institutional, educational, social, government, commercial, industrial, etc.
• Under Phase-II Programme, focus will be on increased involvement of DISCOMs. Performance based incentives will be provided to DISCOMs based on RTS capacity achieved in a financial year (i.e. 1st April to 31st March every year till the duration of the scheme) over and above the base capacity i.e. cumulative capacity achieved at the end of previous financial year.

 MCQ 6

 According to the last elephant census highest no. of elephants are in

1. Kerala
2. Karnataka
3. Assam
4. Tamil nadu

MCQ 7

 MIKE program is associated with conservation of

1. Desi Cow breeds
2. Ghariyal
3. Salt Water Crocodile
4. Elephant

• Project Elephant has been formally implementing MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) programme of CITES in 10 ERs since January 2004. It is mandated by COP resolution of CITES. Project Elephant was started in South Asia in 2003 with the following purposes:

1. To measure levels and trends in illegal hunting of elephants.
2. To determine changes in these trends over time.
3. To determine the factors causing or associated with these changes and to try and assess in particular to what extent observed trends are a result of any decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties to CITES.

• Project Elephant (PE), a centrally sponsored scheme, was launched in February 1992 to provide financial and technical support to major elephant bearing States in the country for protection of elephants, their habitats and corridors. It also seeks to address the issues of human-elephant conflict and welfare of domesticated elephants. The Project is being implemented in 13 States / UTs , viz. Andhra pradesh , Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Jharkhand , Karnataka , Kerala , Meghalaya , Nagaland , Orissa , Tamil Nadu , Uttranchal , Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
• World Elephant Day is an annual global event celebrated across the world on August 12, dedicated to the preservation and protection of elephants. The goal of World Elephant Day is to create awareness about the plight of elephants and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the better care and management of captive and wild elephants. African elephants are listed as “vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “endangered” in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. As per the available population estimates, there are about 400,000 African elephants and 40,000 Asian elephants.

 MCQ 8

1. Van Dhan Vikas Kendras are established by ministry of agriculture
2. Its main goal is to increase forest value and coverage on barren lands

Choose correct

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

• Van Dhan Vikas Kendras
• It is an initiative of the ‘Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ and TRIFED.
• It seeks to improve the livelihood of tribal population by harnessing the incomes through wealth of forest.
• ‘Van Dhan Vikas Karyakram’ is primarily a component under the Mechanism for marketing of Minor Forest Produce (MFP).
• Marketing is done through Minimum Support Price (MSP).
• ‘Van Dhan Vikas Kendras’ will provide skill upgradation and capacity building to the traditional knowledge of tribal people.
• It seeks to to convert the tribal wisdom into a remunerative economic activity.
• MFP is a major source of livelihood for tribals living in forest areas.
• Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from MFP.
• So, this will help in optimum utilization of natural resources and provide sustainable MFP based livelihood for tribals.
• A typical Van Dhan Vikas Kendra shall constitute of 10 tribal Van Dhan Vikas Self Help Groups (SHG).
• The grass root level procurement of MFP is proposed to be undertaken through SHG.
• SHGs shall be appropriately trained on sustainable harvesting, primary processing & value addition of MFP.

MCQ 9

1. The POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of health & FW
2. It amis to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children (0- 18 years), Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers.

Choose correct

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

• Poshan Abhiyaan
• The POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD).
• It amis to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children (0-6 years), Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers.
• The NNM is as an apex body which monitor, fix targets and guide the nutrition related interventions across the Ministries.
• It targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anemia and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
• Mission 25 by 2022 – Although it targets to reduce stunting by 2%, Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022.
• Behavior change communication is the key component for converting it into Jan Andolan (People’s movement).
• The Government of India and UNICEF have jointly signed the “Country Programme 2018-2022”.
• The goal of the country programme is to contribute to national efforts to enable all children, especially the most disadvantaged, to have their rights progressively fulfilled.
• To develop their full potential in an inclusive and protective society.
• UNICEF provides technical support to MWCD for the Programme.
• It is also supporting in the following matters:
• In designing of all guidelines.
• Preparing Posters and Hoardings
• Preparation of audio visual.
• In preparation and designing of Jan Andolan Guidelines and
• In preparation of Dashboard/Google link for Jan Andolan.
• Monitoring and evaluation of the programme will be anchored in the principles of results-based management and guided by verifiable data and statistics.

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