Prelims bits - 5

Question 1

Aarogya Sanjeevani Policy

Answer 1

IRDAI - standalone health insurance companies and general insurance companies to offer a standard health insurance product.

buyers can avoid making a comparison of health insurance plans.

IRDAI - min entry age 18 and max 65 years, no exit age, lifelong renewability.

standardized product covers basic hospitalization needs- min sum insured of Rs 1 lakh and a max Rs 5 lakh.

Policy will be available on both individual lives and on a Family Floater basis.

premium, may be set by insurers on their own.

Question 2

Consider the following statements:

1. Only one side of the Moon is visible from Earth as Moon is tidally locked to Earth.
2. Chandrayaan-2 is the first mission in the world to attempt a landing on the far side of the Moon.
3. The far side of the Moon always remains dark as the sunlight does not reach it.

Answer 2

Tidal locking - rotational period = orbital period around a partner. why we only see one side of the Moon.

Chandrayaan-2 mission - Orbiter, Lander, Rover - exploring south pole of the Moon - combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface of the moon in a single mission. soft lunar landing.
China’s Chang’s- 4 1st soft landing on far side of Moon, in 2019.

Question 3

largest ethnic group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in SE Bangladesh; 2nd largest ethnic group in Mizoram.

Therevada Buddhism.

important festivals - Bizu, Alphaloni, Buddha Purnima and Kathin Civar Dan.

Answer 3

Chakma

Buddhist Chakmas and Hindu Hajongs were displaced from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh — by a hydroelectric project.

Buddha Purnima or Vesak. full moon day of Vaisakha (usually in May).

Question 4

SANKALP scheme

Answer 4

strengthen institutional mechanisms for skill development

increase access to quality and market-relevant training for youth across the country.

private participation

4 key result areas:
Institutional Strengthening at Central, State, District level
Quality Assurance of skill development programmes;
Inclusion of marginalized population
Expanding Skills through PPPs.

SANKALP is funded: World Bank’s Loan, State’s contribution, Industry contribution.

Question 5

South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC):

Answer 5

2001
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives (not a neighbouring country), Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in a project-based partnership to promote regional prosperity, improve economic opportunities, and build a better quality of life for the people. boosting intraregional trade and cooperation in South Asia, developing connectivity and trade with SE Asia through Myanmar, to China, and the global market.

2016, SASEC Operational Plan 2016-2025, a 10-year strategic roadmap - Economic Corridor Development as a fourth sectoral area of focus, to promote synergies and linkages between economic corridors across SASEC countries.

ADB - SASEC Secretariat. energy, economic corridor development, transport, trade facilitation, and information and communications technology sectors.

Question 6

khud-kashta and pahi-kashta during medieval Indian history refer to

Answer 6

2 kinds of peasants

residents of the village in which they held their lands.

non-resident cultivators who belonged to some other village, but cultivated lands elsewhere on a contractual basis.

Question 7

Mandamus

A citizen approached Supreme Court to direct Central Government for effective implementation of the National Food Security Act in drought affected regions

Answer 7

“we command”.

issued to direct any person, corporation, inferior court, or Government requiring him/it to do a particular thing specified therein, which pertains to his/its office and is further in the nature of a public duty.

Question 8

Prohibition

A person approached High Court to prevent a tribunal from proceeding in a matter which is outside the jurisdiction of the tribunal.

Answer 8

issued to an inferior court, preventing the latter from usurping jurisdiction which is not legally vested in it. When a tribunal acts without or in excess of jurisdiction, or in violation of rules or law, a writ of prohibition can be asked for. It is generally issued before the trial of the case.

Question 9

Certiorari

Answer 9

available to any person, wherever any body of persons having legal authority to determine questions affecting the rights of subjects and having the duty to act judicially, act in excess of their legal authority.

Although the object of both the writs of prohibition and of certiorari is the same, prohibition is available at an earlier stage whereas certiorari is available at a later stage but in similar grounds, that is, certiorari is issued after authority has exercised its powers.

Question 10

Quo Warranto

A writ petition is filed in Supreme Court challenging the appointment of a person as the Chairperson of National Commission for Minorities.

Answer 10

enables enquiry into the legality of the claim which a person asserts, to an office or franchise and to oust him from such position if he is an usurper.

It is issued when:
the office is of public and of a substantive nature;
created by statute or by the Constitution itself, and
the respondent has asserted his claim to the office.
It can be issued even though he has not assumed the charge of the office.

Question 11

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund scheme

Answer 11

pan India Central Sector Scheme-

provide a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.

Rs. 1 Lakh Crore provided by banks and financial institutions to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, Aggregation Infrastructure Providers and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public Private Partnership Project

interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crore. Max 7 years subvention

credit guarantee coverage under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme.

FPOs the credit guarantee may be availed from the facility created under FPO promotion scheme of Dept of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DACFW).

Moratorium for repayment -6 months and maximum of 2 years.

Facilitating formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities is expected to create numerous job opportunities in rural areas.

online Management Information System (MIS) platform.

Question 12

Global Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA)

Answer 12

Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change in 2010.

initiative of FAO

address challenges facing food security and agriculture by tapping the wealth and diversity of resources, knowledge, information and expertise.

members: Govts, inter-governmental organizations, farmer organizations, NGOs, civil society groups, research institutes and, private sector. No Individuals

Improve farmers’ agricultural productivity and incomes in a sustainable way;
Build farmers’ resilience to extreme weather and changing climate;
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture.

Government of India, Government of Maharashtra, World Bank -US$ 420 million help small and marginal farmers in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.

Maharashtra Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture - micro-irrigation systems, expand surface water storage, and facilitate aquifer recharge.
climate-resilient seed varieties which have short maturity, are drought and heat resistant, and salt tolerant
reduce risks of climate-related crop failure and help enhance farmer’s income.

Question 13

North-Eastern Council

Answer 13

statutory organization under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, as amended in 2002.

nodal agency for economic and social development of 8 NE Region States

Ex-officio Chairman – Union Home Minister.
Vice Chairman - Minister of State (Independent Charge), DoNER
DoNER Members - Governors and Chief Ministers of all the eight States and 3 members nominated by President.

Initially, NEC was an Advisory Body for North Eastern Region (NER). Now NEC is mandated to function as a Regional Planning Body for the North Eastern Region.

mandated to give priority to schemes and projects, benefitting two or more States, provided that in case of Sikkim, the Council shall formulate specific projects and schemes for that State including the review of implementation of such project and schemes.

Question 14

District Mineral Foundation

Answer 14

a trust set up as a non-profit body by state governments, in those districts affected by the mining works, to work for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining related operations.

Directly affected areas where direct mining-related operations such as excavation, mining, etc. are located.

Indirectly affected areas such as those areas where local population is adversely affected on account of economic, social and environmental consequences due to mining-related operations.

It was mandated through the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, (MMDR) 2015 .

It is funded through the contributions from miners(not from government).

DMF funds are non-lapsable funds and can be used for both immediate and long term investments. treated as extra-budgetary resources for the State Plan.

“District Mineral Foundation (DMF): Implementation Status and Emerging Best Practices” document was released by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based think tank recently.

Question 15

3 types of flowering in bamboo

Answer 15

Continuous Flowering - flowering year after year without any effect on the plant itself, although the produced seeds are rarely viable.

Sporadic Flowering - may be induced by environmental factors such as drought or cold instead of genetics. Plants very rarely die but most of the seeds aren’t viable either.

Gregarious Flowering - Many woody bamboo species. all plants of a particular species flower at the same time, regardless of differences in geographic locations or climate conditions, and then die a few years later. in general bamboo flowering intervals can be as long as 20-120 years.
It isn’t triggered by environmental aspects. diversion of all energy to flower production and the cessation of vegetative growth.

Viviparous flowering (observed in certain mangrove species): seeds or embryos begin to develop before they detach from the parent.

Question 16

Gold Exchange Traded Fund (ETFs):

Answer 16

Open-ended mutual fund schemes bought and sold on stock exchanges based on ever-fluctuating gold prices.

gold ETF costs much lower than actual gold.

Transparency in pricing. The price at which it is bought is closest to the actual price of gold, and therefore, the benchmark is the physical gold price.

gold ETF is a form of investment that provides returns and can be used to meet short-term as well as long-term financial goals. Gold ETFs come with no risk and are not required to be stored.

Gold ETFs are treated as non-equity investments and taxed accordingly.

Short-term capital gains on units held for less than 36 months will be added to investor’s income and taxed as per the applicable slab rate.

Long term capital gains on units held for more than 36 months will be taxed at 20% after providing for indexation.

do not incur Exit Load, Entry Load, Wealth Tax, Security Transaction Tax, VAT, or Sales Tax.

Question 17

two models of precipitation formation

Answer 17

collision-coalescence and ice crystal models.

Collision-coalescence model - warm clouds that form in the tropics at altitudes where the air temperature is above freezing. For precipitation to form under this model, there needs to be a variety of different size condensation nuclei. Large condensation nuclei will create large water droplets while smaller condensation nuclei create small ones.
larger heavy collector droplets fall and collide with the smaller ones. fall all the way to the surface.

Ice – crystal model - precipitation formation in the middle and high latitudes. Clouds form at altitudes where the temperatures are below the freezing point of water. Water exists in its liquid form even though the temperatures are cold “super-cooled water”. Ice crystals are found co-existing with the super-cooled water in cold clouds. When this occurs, the ice crystals will grow at the expense of the water droplets.
Water can evaporate off the droplet and deposit on the ice in response to the water vapor gradient. The droplet will dissipate in size while the ice crystal grows into a snow flake. Once the snow flake is large enough, it will fall to the surface. Whether it hits the surface as snow or rain depends on the temperature conditions through which the snowflake falls

Question 18

cross elasticity of Demand:

Answer 18

concept that measures the responsiveness in the quantity demanded of one good when the price for another good changes. Also called cross-price elasticity of demand. It is a measure of relative change in the quantity demanded of a commodity due to a change in the price of its substitute/complement.

When goods are a substitute for each other then cross elasticity of demand is positive. In other words, when an increase in the price of Y leads to an increase in the demand for X. For instance, with the increase in the price of tea, demand for coffee will increase as coffee substitutes tea.

In the case of complementary goods, cross elasticity of demand is negative. A proportionate increase in the price of one commodity leads to a proportionate fall in the demand of another commodity because both are demanded jointly. For example, if the price of coffee increases, the quantity demanded of coffee stir sticks drops as consumers are drinking less coffee and need to purchase fewer sticks.

In the case of goods which are not related to each other, cross elasticity of demand is zero.

Question 19

International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM):

Answer 19

founded in January 2006 independent group of arms-control and non-proliferation experts from both nuclear weapon and non-nuclear weapon states.

analyze the technical basis for practical and achievable policy initiatives to secure, consolidate, and reduce stockpiles (military and civil) of highly enriched uranium and plutonium.

These fissile materials are the key ingredients in nuclear weapons, and their control is critical to nuclear weapons disarmament, to halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to ensuring that terrorists do not acquire nuclear weapons.

members include nuclear experts from 17 countries: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, UK, USA. 7 nuclear-weapon states and 10 non-weapon states.

Question 20

benefits of internationalization of rupee?

Answer 20

The level of currency internationalization for a currency is determined by the demand other countries have for that currency. Such currencies will also tend to be held as reserve currencies.

facilitate a greater degree of integration of the Indian economy with the rest of the world in terms of foreign trade and international capital flows.

1. Reduction in dependence on foreign exchange reserves for a balance of payment stability.
2. Lowers the domestic cost of capital.
3. Indian borrowers can borrow from international markets without exchange rate risks.

Question 21

‘Delhi Proposals’?

Answer 21

December 1927, a large number of Muslim leaders had met at Delhi at the Muslim League session and evolved 4 proposals for their demands to be incorporated into the draft constitution (Nehru Report). These proposals, which were accepted by the Madras session of the Congress (December 1927), came to be known as the ‘Delhi Proposals’.

These were:
joint electorates in place of separate electorates with reserved seats for Muslims

one-third representation to Muslims in Central Legislative Assembly;

representation to Muslims in Punjab and Bengal in proportion to their population;
formation of 3 new Muslim majority provinces—Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP

Question 22

Which of the following statements in the context of philosophis of ancient India is correct ?

(a) Lokayata philosophy was propounded by Makkhali Gosala.
(b) Ajitha Kesakambalin is a teacher belonging to Ajivika tradition.
(c) Ajivikas are fatalists while followers of Lokayata are Materialists.
(d) None of the statements (a), (b), and (c) are correct.

Answer 22

2 major classification of Indian Hindu philosophy.

Orthodox (astika) philosophy—Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta

Heterodox (nastika) philosophy —Jain, Buddhist, Ajivika, Ajñana, and Charvaka.

The orthodox schools recognize the authority of Vedas. The nāstika (heterodox) schools don’t draw upon the Vedas as the sole primary authoritative text, but may emphasize other traditions of thought. The main nāstika schools are Cārvāka (pronounced Charvaka, meaning sweet talkers) and Ajivika.

Ajita Kesakambali - first Charvaka while Brihaspati is called its founder.
No soul, no consciousness, no god. Karma and Artha only, Dharma and Moksha concepts are beyond Charvaka philosophy.

Aajivika school :
They have often been described as fatalists: those who believe that everything is predetermined. religious order or sect founded by Gosala Mankhaliputta, a senior contemporary of Buddha and Mahavira.
doctrine of niyati or destiny or doctrine of immutability. Bhagwati Sutra

Question 23

Zahedan
Hambantota
Hulhudhoo-Meedhoo

Answer 23

Zahedan is a city and capital of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Iran. The Iranian sea-port of Chabahar has proved crucial for India as it provides sea-land connectivity to Afghanistan bypassing the land route through Pakistan. Zahedan in Iran is located near the Afghan border and the Chabahar-Zahedan rail route could further help smooth movement of Indian goods to Afghanistan.

Hambantota is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has lease the southern port of Hambantota to a Chinese venture. part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, prompting concern in India.

Hulhudhoo-Meedhoo is an island located on the northeastern point of Addu City in Maldives. Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between governments of India and Maldives for the development of fish processing plants in Maradhoo and Hulhudhoo of Addu Atoll.

Question 24

NITI Aayog Voluntary National Review (VNR) at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)

Answer 24

The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is the main UN platform on sustainable development. It has a central role in the follow-up and review of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable.

HLPF meets annually under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN. The VNRs presented by Member States at the HLPF are a critical component of the review of progress and implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The reviews are voluntary and state-led and are aimed at facilitating the sharing of experiences, including successes, challenges and lessons learned. NITI Aayog prepared and presented India’s first VNR in 2017.

Question 25

‘Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action’

Answer 25

Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action was launched 2016 (COP 22) to bring the power of non-Party action to the forefront to help increase the pace and ambition of climate action.

The Marrakech Partnership organises actions across seven thematic areas, namely – land use (agriculture, forestry and other land use), water, oceans and coastal zones, energy, industry, human settlements and transport.

ambition and the transition towards a 1.5°C climate-neutral and resilient world.

Strategic engagement via Regional climate weeks, Technical examination processes on mitigation and adaptation.
Tracking and reporting voluntary action via Yearbook of Global Climate Action and NAZCA portal (Non-state Actor Zone for Climate Action)
NAZCA portal contains commitments of countries, cities, businesses and international coalitions, including those that are part of the Paris Agreement.

Question 26

Mangroves

Answer 26

A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water in the intertidal zone.
Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S.
Mangroves are the only species of trees in the world that can tolerate saltwater. However, they do not require salt,

The dense roots of mangroves help to bind and build soils. The above-ground roots slow down water flows, encourage deposition of sediments and reduce erosion thus protecting shorelines from damaging storm and hurricane winds, waves, and floods.

They maintain water quality and clarity, filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from land. With the ability to store vast amounts of carbon, mangrove forests are key weapons in the fight against climate change.
Since mangroves thrive in warmer temperatures, they are bound to benefit from a warming climate. Instead of being limited to their current homes in subtropical and tropical climates, mangroves are taking advantage of warming temperatures and expand into a temperate climate.

Question 27

If President’s rule is declared (under Article 356 of the Constitution of India) in a particular state, then the President can:

Answer 27

Article 355 duty on the Centre to ensure that the govt of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. Centre takes over the government of a state under Article 356 in case of failure of constitutional machinery in state.

must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue. If approved by both the Houses of Parliament, the President’s Rule continues for six months . It can be extended for a maximum period of three years with the approval of the Parliament, every six months.

The President acquires the following extraordinary powers:
functions of the state government and powers vested in the governor or any other executive authority in the state.
declare that the powers of the state legislature are to be exercised by the Parliament.
necessary steps including the suspension of the constitutional provisions relating to any body or authority in the state.