DAY – 25 ( INSTA REVISION TEST – 25)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2021 – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: D

Réunion is an overseas department and region of the French Republic and an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 175 km southwest of Mauritius.

Socotra or Soqotra  located between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, is the largest of four islands in the Socotra archipelago. The territory is located near major shipping routes and is officially part of Yemen, and had long been a subdivision of the Aden Governorate

Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago.

Solution: B

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiative started by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2002. The idea behind identifying GIAHS is to increase understanding and awareness among the public regarding sustainable agricultural practices and to conserve the economic, environmental, and socio-cultural goods and services these systems provide to communities dependent on them, particularly the small and marginal farmers, indigenous populations etc.

The purpose of the initiative is to identify and dynamically conserve globally important agriculture heritage systems. A GIAHS is a living, evolving system of human communities in an intricate relationship with their territory, cultural or agricultural landscape or biophysical and wider social environment.

There are 52 GIAHS sites in 21 countries Six GIAHS sites located in China, Philippines, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Republic of Korea are also UNESCO World Heritage sites

Solution: D

NPCI is an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.

It is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA).

It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit Company under the provisions of Section 25 of Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of Companies Act 2013), with an intention to provide infrastructure to entire banking system in India for physical as well as electronic payment and settlement systems.

It focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through the use of technology for achieving greater efficiency in operations and widening the reach of payment systems.

Solution: C

The all-India Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) is traditionally a quinquennial (recurring every five years) survey conducted by the government’s National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).

It is designed to collect information on the consumption spending patterns of households across the country, both urban and rural.

The data gathered in this exercise reveals the average expenditure on goods and services and helps generate estimates of household Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) as well as the distribution of households and persons over the MPCE classes.

Solution: C

Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion report:

• Produced by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research and analysis division of The Economist Group.
• Created in 1946 and is the world leader in global business intelligence.
• The Microscope report was first published in 2007 and was originally developed for countries in Latin American and Caribbean regions but in 2009 it was expanded into a global study.
• The report is a benchmarking index that assesses enabling environment for financial access in 55 countries across 5 categories.

Five parameters across which countries are assessed:

• Government and Policy Support.
• Products and Outlets.
• Stability and Integrity.
• Consumer Protection.
• Infrastructure.

Solution: A

The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent.

It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999).

Tropic of Cancer Passes through:

• Algeria
• Niger
• Libya
• Egypt
• Saudi Arabia
• UAE (Abu Dhabi)
• Oman
• India
• Bangladesh
• Myanmar
• China
• Taiwan
• Mexico
• Bahamas
• Western Sahara (area claimed by Morocco; Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic)
• Mauritania
• Mali.

Solution: B

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations.

It established in 1977 and is one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. It is headquartered in Rome, Italy.

It invests in rural people by empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience.

Solution: B

The Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) was set up in 2014-15 under the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Famers Welfare (DAC&FW) to help regulate the price volatility of important agri-horticultural commodities like onion, potatoes and pulses were also added subsequently.

The PSF scheme was transferred from DAC&FW to the Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA) w.e.f. 1st April, 2016.

The scheme provides for maintaining a strategic buffer of aforementioned commodities for subsequent calibrated release to moderate price volatility and discourage hoarding and unscrupulous speculation. For building such stock, the scheme promotes direct purchase from farmers/farmers’ association at farm gate/Mandi.

The PSF is utilized for granting interest free advance of working capital to Central Agencies, State/UT Governments/Agencies to undertake market intervention operations. Apart from domestic procurement from farmers/wholesale mandis, import may also be undertaken with support from the Fund.

Solution: A

Global Investment Trend Monitor report

• The Global Investment Trend Monitor report, compiled by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has been released.
• India was among the top 10 recipients of Foreign Direct Investment in 2019, attracting $49 billion in inflows, a 16 per cent increase from the previous year.
• The global foreign direct investment remained flat in 2019 at $1.39 trillion, a one per cent decline from a revised $1.41 trillion in 2018.

Solution: C

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)

• It was created in March 1986 in terms of Section 4 (3) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
• It is the nodal drug law enforcement and intelligence agency of India responsible for fighting drug trafficking and the abuse of illegal substances.
• It works in close cooperation with Customs and Central Excise, State Police Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) and other Indian intelligence and law enforcement agencies both at the national and states level.
• It also provides resources and training to personnel of India’s law enforcement agencies in fighting drug trafficking. It also monitors India’s frontiers to track down points where smuggling activities take place with foreign traffickers.
• It comes under the Union ministry of Home Affairs.

Solution: D

About Rashtriya Gokul Mission:

• Rashtriya Gokul Mission is launched for conservation and development of indigenous breeds in a focused and scientific manner.
• It is a project under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development.
• Rashtriya Gokul Mission will be implemented through the “State Implementing Agency (SIA viz Livestock Development Boards).
• State Gauseva Ayogs will be given the mandate to sponsor proposals to the SIA’s (LDB’s) and monitor implementation of the sponsored proposal.
• All Agencies having a role in indigenous cattle development will be the “Participating Agencies” like CFSPTI, CCBFs, ICAR, Universities, Colleges, NGO’s, Cooperative Societies and Gaushalas with best germplasm.
• Funding Pattern: Scheme is implemented on 100% grant-in-aid basis throughout the country.

Solution: A

International Solar Alliance

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 122 countries initiated by India, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, now extended to all members of UN.
• The Paris Declaration establishes ISA as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.
• The primary objective is to collectively work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil based fuels.
• Objectives: The ISA’s major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over US$ 1000 billion into solar energy by 2030.
• As an action-oriented organisation, the ISA brings together countries with rich solar potential to aggregate global demand, thereby reducing prices through bulk purchase, facilitating the deployment of existing solar technologies at scale, and promoting collaborative solar R&D and capacity building.
• When the ISA Framework Agreement entered into force on December 6th, 2017, ISA formally became a de-jure treaty based International Intergovernmental Organization, headquartered at Gurugram, India.
• The ISA Framework Agreement has a total of 14 articles. There are no targets or legal obligations imposed on member-countries.

Solution: C

Bharat Bond ETF

• Government launched Bharat Bond ETF, India’s first corporate bond exchange traded fund, comprising debt of state-run companies.
• This move will allow retail investors to buy government debt.
• Retail investors can invest in bond markets, with smaller amount as low as ₹1,000.
• They will provide tax efficiency as compared to bonds, as coupons (interest) from the bonds are taxed depending on the investor’s tax slab.

Key features of Bharat Bond ETF:

• It is a basket of bonds issued by central public sector enterprises/undertakings or any other government organization bonds.
• It will have a fixed maturity of three and ten years and will trade on the stock exchanges.

• It will invest in a portfolio of bonds of state-run companies and other government entities.
• Investors can put in a minimum Rs 1,000 in Bharat Bond ETF and in multiples of Rs 1,000 thereafter.

Solution: D

All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)

• All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report for 2018-19 was recently released by the HRD ministry.
• The survey, undertaken as an annual, web-based, pan-India exercise on the status of Higher Education since 2010-11.
• The survey covers all the Institutions in the country engaged in higher education.
• Data is being collected on several parameters such as teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance, and infrastructure.
• Indicators of educational development such as Institution Density, Gross Enrolment Ratio, Pupil-teacher ratio, Gender Parity Index, Per Student Expenditure will also be calculated from the data collected through AISHE.

Key findings:

• General trend indicates gender gap is narrowing with an improvement in female enrollment ratio from 47.6% in 2017-18 to 48.6% in 2018-19.
• More Girls in two states: In Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, there are now more females in the age group of 18-23 enrolling for higher education than male students.
• The gross enrolment ratio (GER) increased marginally – from 25.8 in 2017-18 to 26.3 in 2018-19.
• In absolute terms, enrolment increased from 3.66 crore to 3.74 crore students in the same period. GER for SCs has also shown a growth from 21.8 to 23.0 and STs from 15.9 to 17.2.
• Number of universities has grown from 903 in 2017-18 to 993 in 2018-19 and total HEIs (higher educational institutions) from 49,964 to 51,649 in the same period.
• Number of faculty has also increased from 13.88 lakh to 14.16 lakh.
• Preferred stream at PG level: While one-third of undergraduate students are enrolled in humanities, management seems to be a preferred stream at the postgraduate (PG) level. Science and engineering technology registered relatively more enrolment in M. Phil and Ph.D programmes.
• Preferred stream at the UG level, 35.9% of the total enrolment was in arts/ humanities/social science, just 16.5% students are pursuing science, followed by commerce with 14.1%. Engineering is the fourth choice.

Solution: B

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released ‘Emissions Gap Report’, according to which India is the fourth-largest emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs).

According to the report, unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year, the world will fail to meet the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.

The top four emitters (China, USA, EU and India) contribute to over 55 per cent of the total emissions over the last decade, excluding emissions from land-use change such as deforestation, the report states.

If land-use change emissions were included, the rankings would change, with Brazil likely to be the largest emitter.

Largest emitting sectors are Energy >Industry> Forestry> Transport> Agriculture.