Current Affairs - MCQ Online Test (4) - UPSC MCQ

Answer: d

Explanation:

The ‘Working Group on Migration’ set by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation 2015 who submitted their Report to the Government. The Working Group has recommendations as follows:

• The Protocols of the Registrar General of India needs to be amended to enable caste-based enumeration of migrants so that they can avail the attendant benefits in the States to which migration takes place. 

• It also recommended that migrants should be enabled to avail benefits of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the Destination State by providing for inter-State operability of PDS.

• States should be encouraged to proactively eliminate the requirement of domicile status to prevent any discrimination in work and employment. 

• States are also to be asked to include migrant children in the Annual Work Plans under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) to uphold their Right to Education.

• The vast network of post offices needs to be made effective use of by reducing the cost of transfer of money to avoid informal remittances. 

• It also suggested that migrants should be enabled to open bank accounts by asking banks to adhere to RBI guidelines regarding Know Your Customer (KYC) norms and not insist on documents that were not required.

• The Group suggested that the hugely underutilised Construction Workers Welfare Cess Fund should be used to promote rental housing, working Women Hostels etc., for the benefit of migrants.

Answer: c

Explanation:

The UN-established commission has issued a damning report on human rights violations in Syria's war-ravaged Aleppo, accusing both sides to the conflict of committing war crimes. The commission gathered evidence to confirm witness accounts that the Syrian and Russian governments used prohibited cluster munitions on civilians in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, suggesting the deliberate destruction of hospitals with repeated airstrikes, among other rights violations.

Cluster munitions release smaller "bomblets" that cover a wider area than regular bombs and are criticised for causing damage beyond intended targets. Aleppo was once Syria’s largest city, with a population of about 2.3 million. It was also the country’s industrial and financial centre. The old city is a Unesco World Heritage site and was famous for its 13th Century citadel and 12th Century Great Mosque.

Answer: b

Explanation:

Recently, the Indian Navy has successfully conducted the maiden firing of an Anti-Ship missile from the first of the indigenously built Kalvari class submarines, during a test firing in the Arabian Sea.

The missile successfully hit a surface target at extended ranges during the trial firing, held this morning. This missile launch is a significant milestone, not only for the Kalvari, which is the first in a series of Scorpene class submarines being built in India, but also in enhancing the Indian Navy’s sub-surface warfare capability.

All six Kalvari class submarines being built in India will be equipped with this anti-ship missile, which has a proven record in combat. These missiles will provide the submarines the ability to neutralise surface threats at extended ranges.

Answer: d

Explanation:

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) handed over three of its products for induction into the Indian Army. The products are namely (i) Weapon Locating Radar (WLR), SWATHI, (ii) NBC Recce vehicle and (iii) NBC Drugs. The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar who presided the function handed over the products to the Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on behalf of DRDO.

The NBC Recce Vehicle Mk-I, is developed by Vehicles Research & Development Establishment (VRDE) for carrying out post event recce of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Contaminated areas. It is capable of collecting solid and liquid samples of biologically contaminated areas, mark the nuclear and chemical contamination zone and transfer the recce data speedily to support formations. On the successful development of NBC RV Mk-I in association with DL, Jodhpur, and the equipment was approved for induction into the Services.

Answer: c

Explanation:

Buoyed by the elimination of polio six years ago and maternal and neonatal tetanus and yaws in 2016, India has set an ambitious target of eliminating measles and controlling congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), caused by the rubella virus, by 2020. While two doses of measles vaccine given at 9-12 months and 16-24 months have already been part of the national immunisation programme, it is the first time that the rubella vaccine has been included in the programme. Since the rubella vaccines will piggy-back on the measles elimination programme, there will be very little additional cost.

Measles is highly infectious and is one of the major childhood killer diseases. Of the 1, 34,000 measles deaths globally in 2015, an estimated 47,000 occurred in India. The introduction of the second dose of the measles vaccine and an increase in vaccine coverage have led to a sharp decline in deaths in India — from an estimated 1,00,000 deaths in 2010 to 47,000 in 2015. Unlike measles, rubella is a mild viral infection that mainly occurs in children. But a woman infected with the rubella virus during the early stage of pregnancy has a 90% chance of transmitting it to the foetus. The virus can cause hearing impairments, eye and heart defects and brain damage in newborns, and even spontaneous abortion and foetal deaths. Of the 1, 10,000 children born with CRS every year globally, an estimated 40,000 cases occur in India alone.

Answer: d

Explanation:

Recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into 10 more Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) over the last one week, including 7 Unilateral APAs signed on 28th February alone. Two of these ten agreements are Bilateral APAs with the United Kingdom and Japan. Seven of these Agreements have Rollback provisions in them.  With this, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has reached 140. This includes 10 Bilateral APAs and 130 Unilateral APAs. In the current financial year, a total of 76 APAs (7 Bilateral APAs and 61 Unilateral APAs) have already been entered into. The CBDT expects more APAs to be concluded and signed before the end of the current C fiscal.The APA Scheme was introduced in the Income-tax Act in 2012 and the “Rollback” provisions were introduced in 2014. The scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance. Since its inception, the APA scheme has evinced a lot of interest from taxpayers and that has resulted in more than 700 applications (both unilateral and bilateral) being filed so far in about five years.

Answer: c

Explanation:

The Indian economy is expanding at a fast pace, boosting living standards and reducing poverty nationwide. Further reforms are now necessary to maintain strong growth and ensure that all Indians benefit from it, according to a new report from the OECD.

The latest OECD Economic Survey of India 2017 finds that the acceleration of structural reforms and the move toward a rule-based macroeconomic policy framework are sustaining the country’s longstanding rapid economic expansion.

The Survey, launched in New Delhi recently by OECD Secretary-General Mr Angel Gurria and Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India, Shaktikanta Das, hails India’s recent growth rate of more than 7 percent annually as the strongest among G-20 countries. It identifies priority areas for future action, including continuing plans to maintain macroeconomic stability and further reduce poverty, additional comprehensive tax reforms and new efforts to boost productivity and reduce disparities between India’s various regions.

Answer: a

Explanation:

Recently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed here $375 million in loans and grants to develop 800-kilometer Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, which is the First Phase of a planned 2,500–kilometer long East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC). The Corridor is expected to spur development on India’s eastern coast in line with the Government of India’s Make in India policy to stimulate manufacturing, and Act East policy to integrate the Indian economy with Asia’s dynamic global production networks.

The signing event was held on 23rd February 2017 followed the ADB approval of $631 million in loans and grants in September 2016 to develop the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor. ADB’s approved loans comprise a $500 million multi-tranche facility to build key infrastructure in the four main centres along the corridor – Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Amaravati, and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti in the State of Andhra Pradesh. The First Tranche of $245 million was signed today that will finance sub-projects to develop high-quality internal infrastructure in 2 of the 4 nodes of the corridor–Visakhapatnam and Yerpedu-Srikalahasti.

Answer: c

Explanation:

Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam collectively, are the third largest economy in ASEAN, followed by Indonesia and Thailand.  Due to close proximity, India is looking to boost trade and investment with the CLMV region as part of the ‘Act East’ policy AS announced during the 12th India – ASEAN Summit in 2013.

The CLMV conclave is an annual feature which provides an opportunity for Indian business leaders to interact with government and business stakeholders representing the four countries. The conclave facilitates to create and provide a platform for the decision makers from CLMV countries to interact with a range of Indian business companies involved in trading, manufacturing, processing, engineering, consultancy, construction etc.

Answer: a

Explanation:

Indian Railways introduced the first Antyodaya Express between Ernakulam and Howrah that is the Ernakulam-Howrah Antyodaya Express (Weekly). The train service was inaugurated by Minister of Railways through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan.  As announced in Railway Budget 2016-17, Antyodaya Express is long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes.  The one way distance is around 2307 Kms.

The stoppages includes Kharagpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khurda Road, Brahmapur, Palasa, Srikakulam Road, Vizianagaram, Duvvada, Rajahmundry, Vijaywada, Ongole, Renigunta, Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, Erode, Coiambatore, Palakkad and Thrisur.

Answer: a

Explanation:

The Union Ministry of Urban Development under the Central scheme HRIDAY has approved the development of 6-kilometer-long Bet Dwarka Darshan Circuit in Gujarat. The circuit will be developed at an expense of Rs 16.27 crore under the Central Scheme ‘Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)’.

The Bet Dwarka Darshan Circuit that connects the famous Dwarkadish Haveli and Hanuman Dandi was approved by the HRIDAY National Empowered Committee chaired by Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (UD). Hanuman Dandi is the only temple housing Hanumanji and his son Makardhwaj, in Dwarka district of Gujarat. HRIDAY, the ‘National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana’ was launched on 21 January 2015, seek to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the country.

Answer: b

Explanation:

The Government of India and the State of Sikkim signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the Scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) today, for operational improvement of the State’s Power Distribution Department. With the signing of MoU, the total number of States covered under UDAY has reached twenty-two. Sikkim would derive an Overall Net Benefit of approximately Rs. 207 crores through UDAY by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc. during the period of turnaround.

Demand Side interventions in UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans & air-conditioners and efficient industrial equipment through PAT (Perform, Achieve, and Trade) would help in reducing peak load, flatten load curve and thus help in reducing energy consumption in the State of Sikkim. The gain is expected to be around Rs.25 crores

Answer: c

Explanation:

Recently, India and Germany have ratified the Social Security Agreement (SSA), which will commence from May 1 this year, to help promote more investment flows between the two countries. The ratified SSA will also integrate the provisions of the 2008 social insurance pact that exempts detached workers of the two countries from making social security contributions in either country so long as they were making such contributions in their respective countries and the 2008 pact will then cease to be in force.

As per the External Affairs Ministry of India, "the new agreement establishes the rights and obligations of nationals of both countries and provides for equal treatment of the nationals of both countries ...the requirements to be entitled to a pension can be met by aggregating the periods of insurance completed in India and Germany, whereby each country pays only the pension for the insurance periods covered by its laws. The period of posting will be up to 48 calendar months”.

Answer: d

Explanation:

To effectively address the emerging urbanization challenges, the Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a multi-pronged policy framework to promote living close to mass urban transit corridors. This new initiatives seeks to promote ‘Transit Oriented Development (TOD)’ which enables people to live within walking or cycling distance from transit corridors like the Metros, Monorail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors, currently being taken up on a large scale.

The Ministry has formulated a ‘National Transit Oriented Development Policy’ which will be discussed with the States and Union Territories at a National Workshop on Urban Development to be held Tuesday next week. This policy seeks to enhance the depth of understanding of States and UTs on TOD as a viable solution to many of the challenges like haphazard urban growth and sprawl, mobility, rapidly rising private vehicles on roads, pollution, housing choices etc.. This new urban design and planning in the form of TOD, is being incentivised by the Ministry under two more initiatives viz., Metro Policy and Green Urban Mobility Scheme which also will be discussed with States and UTS for taking them on board.

Answer: d

Explanation:

China's amphibian aircraft, which is stated to be the world's largest, has successfully passed engine tests and is expected to make its maiden flight in the first half of this year.

Answer: a

Explanation:

France’s Jean-Pierre Lacroix has been appointed as the Under-Secretary-General for the United Nations’ Peacekeeping Operations. He has been appointed for the period of one year beginning 1 April 2017.

Answer: c

Explanation:

The Donald Trump administration of the USA in February 2017 imposed sanctions against the Vice President of Venezuela Tareck El Aissami, calling him a ‘drug kingpin'.

Answer: d

Explanation:

In a major reform of a key labour law, the Maharashtra government has issued a notification amending the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 which will substantially reduce the number of establishments covered by this law in the state.

Answer: d

Explanation:

Piyush Goyal on 15 February 2017 launched the Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augmentation (TAMRA) Portal and Mobile Application. TAMRA was created with an aim to speed up mining activity in India and facilitated all stakeholders to track the status of clearances linked to mining blocks for getting mines to reach till operationalisation for the same.

Answer: d

Explanation:

A festival of colours with a message of forgiveness was launched her in presence of Bollywood actor Sonu Sood. Red Fly Events, an event management company, is set to host the celebrations, "Bheege Chunariya", in the UAE on 17 March 2017.

Answer: c

Explanation:

Although child marriage is banned, 1,71,083 girls and 1,72,934 boys were married off in the last five years in Andhra Pradesh before they reached the marriageable age.

Answer: b

Explanation:

The second edition of “Hunar Haat” has been organized with the theme “Craft Aur Cuisine Ka Sangam” from February 11, 2017 to promote minority communities craftsmen in domestic and international markets. It will remain open till 26th of this month at State Emporia Complex in Connaught Place, New Delhi.

Answer: c

Explanation:

The President and Vice President of UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum respectively, announced in February 2017 that they are planning to build the first inhabitable human settlement on Mars by 2117.

India’s first sports literature festival ‘SporTale’ will be held in Pune on February 2, 2017. The 2-day event will feature approx 38 luminaries from the field of sports, media, cinema, books and photography.