Science And Technology - MCQ Online Test (1) - UPSC MCQ

India has on 20 September 2016, successfully test-fired one of the most advanced surface-to-air missiles 'Barak-8' off the Odisha coast. The long-range nuclear capable ballistic missile which has been jointly developed with Israel was launched from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur of Balasore district.
The missile is 4.5-meter long, weighs around 3 tonnes and can carry a payload of 70 kilograms at a time. The system also includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Yojana (PMJAY) was launched in 2008, envisages key initiative of opening of dedicated outlets of generic medicine. In ‘Jan Aushadhi stores’, dedicated outlets the high quality of generic medicines would be sold at low prices. Such medicines would be equivalent in potency and efficacy to expensive branded drugs.
Recently, 437 Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi Kendras spread over 26 States/UTs are operational across the country. The Government is committed to open 3000 PMJAK by March 2017 across India.

BS emission standards have been instituted by the Government of India to keep check on the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipments, 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.
 It was first introduced in 2000 while in India; it was introduced in 2010, in 13 cities including Delhi NCR. 

Yatri Mitra is an initiative to improve the railway travel experience of elderly, differently-abled and ailing passengers. The Ministry of Railways has announced the launch of ‘Yatri Mitra Seva’ to simplify access to wheelchairs, battery operated cars and porter services. The scheme will be operational at all major railway stations. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. have been entrusted with implementing services that can be availed at the time of booking tickets online. ‘Yatri Mitra’ or ‘Passenger Friend’ can be an assistant or any other person nominated for the purpose. The Railway Board said the IRCTC may provide the service ‘free of cost’ through some NGO, charitable trust, PSUs, etc.

The Cassini–Huygens space-research mission, commonly called Cassini, involved a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The Flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini probe and ESA's Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit. The two craft took their names from the astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.

The Flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini probe and ESA's Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit.

Central sector schemes are schemes with 100% funding by the Central government and implemented by the Central Government machinery. The central sector schemes are mainly formulated on subjects mainly from the Union List. Besides, there are some other programmes that various Central Ministries implements directly in States and UTs which also comes under Central Sector Schemes. In these schemes, the financial resources are not shifted to states.

Soil Health Card Day is being observed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Soil Health Card (SHC) Scheme on 19th February 2015 at Suratgarh in Rajasthan. The scheme aims at issuing soil health cards to farmers every two years so as to provide a basis to address nutritional deficiencies in soil.

“Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana” is an elaborated component of Soil Health Management (SHM) of major project National Mission of Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA). Under PKVY Organic farming is promoted through adoption of organic village by cluster approach and PGS certification.

The Scheme envisages:

1. Promotion of commercial organic production through certified organic farming.

2. The produce will be pesticide residue free and will contribute to improve the health of consumer.

3. It will raise farmer's income and create potential market for traders.

4. It will motivate the farmers for natural resource mobilization for input production.

National Agriculture Market (eNAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.

Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is the lead agency for implementing eNAM under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.

VISION
To promote uniformity in agriculture marketing by streamlining of procedures across the integrated markets, removing information asymmetry between buyers and sellers and promoting real time price discovery based on actual demand and supply.

MISSION

Integration of APMCs across the country through a common online market platform to facilitate pan-India trade in agriculture commodities, providing better price discovery through transparent auction process based on quality of produce along with timely online payment.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) has been formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation and improving water use efficiency in a focused manner with end to end solution on source creation, distribution, management, field application and extension activities. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister has accorded approval of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) in its meeting held on 1st July, 2015.

PMKSY has been formulated amalgamating ongoing schemes viz. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of Department of Land Resources (DoLR) and the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC). PMKSY has been approved for implementation across the country with an outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore in five years.

Option 2 is incorrect because Rashtriya Gokul Mission has been implemented under Department of animal husbandry Dairying and Fisheries.

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana Kendra (PMBJP) is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India, to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special kendras known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra. Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana Kendra (PMBJPK) have been set up to provide generic drugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive branded drugs. BPPI (Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India) has been established under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India, with the support of all the CPSUs for co-coordinating procurement, supply and marketing of generic drugs through Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra

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   Statement 1: It offers concessions to the airlines to encourage them to fly on regional routes.

   
   


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   Statement 2: Airports Authority of India (AAI) is the implementing agency.

   
   


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   Statement 3: A Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) will be created to subsidise operations.

   
   


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   Statement 4: Viability Gap Funding (VGF) will be provided to the selected airline operators from RCF.

   
   

Startup India Scheme is an initiative by the Government of India for generation of employment and wealth creation. The goal of Startup India is the development and innovation of products and services and increasing the employment rate in India.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India's 1.2 billion people. It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the Government of India. It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System. Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements. The Midday Meal Scheme and the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).

Antyodaya Anna Yojana is a Government of India sponsored scheme to provide highly subsidised food to millions of the poorest families. This scheme was developed by the then Union Food and Civil Supplies minister, Shanta Kumar. It was launched by the NDA government on 25 December 2000 and first implemented in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

After identifying the "poorest of the poor" (the 10,000,000 poorest families in the Below Poverty Line category) through surveying, the government began providing them an opportunity to purchase up to 35kilograms of rice and wheat at a highly subsidised cost of Rs. 3 per kilogram of rice and Rs. 2 per kilogram of wheat. Poor families were identified by their respective state rural development facilities through the use of surveys. The scheme has been expanded twice, once in June 2003 and then in August 2004, adding an additional 5,000,000 BPL families each time and bringing the total number of families covered up to 20,000,000. after this additional 50 lakh families were added in 2003 .

Project Mausam is a cultural and economic project by the Indian Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts which aims to connect countries on the Indian Ocean. Initially, the idea of was proposed by Ravindra Singh, then-secretary of the Ministry. Afterwards, the government of India was preparing to nominate the project as a transnational inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The term "mausam" refers to the Arabic word mawsim, which refers to the season when boats can safely sail. The Indian government has increased financial investments to explore potential benefits for future generations.

Project Mausam aims to rebuild maritime and economic connections with the 39 countries bordering the Indian Ocean. The project also aims to bring together historical and archaeological researchers to record the diversity of economic, cultural, and religious interactions between countries in. There are two visions for Project Mausam: the first is to understand national cultures between countries and the second is to rebuild communications between countries.

The National Pension System (NPS) is a voluntary defined contribution pension system administered and regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), created by an Act of the Parliament of India.

The cabinet approved the project SAKSHAM, which is said to be the new indirect tax network (systems integration) of the CBEC. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared a Rs 2,256 crore IT project Saksham of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, which will help in the implementation of the GST and integrate CBEC’s system with the GSTN by the GST rollout deadline i.e April 2017.

Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) is a trained female community health activist. Selected from the community itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative set up by the NITI Aayog to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the length and breadth of the country, based on a detailed study and deliberations on innovation and entrepreneurial needs of India in the years ahead.