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Showing posts from May 17, 2017

Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams – 15 May 2017

Q. Which of the following is not a part of Panchsheel, five principles of peaceful coexistence? A. Equality and cooperation for mutual benefit B. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty C. Mutual non-aggression. D. Help each other in case of external aggression Q. Which of the following is correct regarding Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana? 1. It was launched by the Govt. of India to provide connectivity to unconnected Habitations 2. It is a program for the reduction of poverty 3. There are about 1.67 lakh Unconnected Habitations are eligible for coverage under the programme A. 1 and 2 only B. 2 and 3 only C. 1 and 3 only D. All Q. The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of A. Equatorial climate B. Mediterranean climate C. Monsoon climate D. All of the above climates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer 1-D, 2-D,  3-C

Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams – 14 May 2017

Q.1- Which of the following is correct regarding Computer Emergency Response Team? 1. Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is the Government organisation under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. 2. It was setup after the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008 A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None Q. Which of the following diseases are covered for vaccination under the Universal Immunisation Program (UIP)? a) Diptheria b) Whooping cough c) Tetanus d) Polio e) TB f) Measles g) Hepatiis B 1) Only a,c,e,g 2) Only b,d,f 3) Only e,f,g 4) All Q Which of the following is/are correct regarding One belt one road initiative? 1. It focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily between China and Eurasia 2. It consists of two main components, the land-based "Silk Road Economic Belt" (SREB) and oceangoing "Maritime Silk Road" (MSR). A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None  . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams – 13 May 2017

Q.UDAN scheme is related to which of the following? A. Girl education B. Tribal upliftment C. Aviation sector D. None Q. Consider the following statements and mark the correct answer regarding IIP. a) Base year for IIP is 2010-11; b) IIP is released by CSO; c) Core sector makes 38 percent of the IIP; A) a, b B) b, c C) c only D) c, a Q.3- Electronic voting machines were first used in India in which of the following years? A. 1992 B. 1998 C. 1982 D. 2004  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer  1- C ,2-B, 3 - B

How Baddi pharma waste can make your medicines ineffective (downtoearth)

Spread over 380 square kilometres in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district, the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area is one of India’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs. The region hosts around 500 small, medium and large pharma units and accounts for 35 per cent of Asia’s total medicine production. But rapid industrialisation and a lax attitude towards safe disposal and management of pharma waste have raised concerns about the effects of pollution on the environment and health. The water of the Sirsa river, which flows downstream through Baddi, is black and emanates a foul odour. In Jharmajri village, which has the largest number of pharma units, resident Balvinder Thakur points to an open area where solid waste has been burnt. The burnt waste, which contains medicine wrappers, flows along with wastewater into a dirty canal nearby. “All of this is going to the river,” he says. Pharma manufacturing units are required to send their solid waste to the treatment, storage

Odisha villagers, forest department at loggerheads over rights to sell kendu leaves (downtoearth)

n the first week of May, six Gram Sabhas in the Kalahandi district of Odisha decided to exercise their rights of ownership and disposal of one of the most lucrative minor forest produces (MFPs) in the state—kendu leaf (East Indian ebony). Kendu leaves are a nationalised forest produce in Odisha. This technically means that its trade monopoly lies with authorised state agencies. The state forest department has objected to the Gram Sabha’s decision using this argument. The Gram Sabhas, on the other hand, are contesting that they have the “right of ownership, access to collect, use, and dispose of minor forest produce” under Section 3(1)(c) of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. Facilitated by a non-profit—Regional Centre for Cooperation and Development—these gram sabhas had received community forest rights over MFPs in 2012. In Odisha, the Kendu Leaf (KL) wing of the forest department procures the leaves from the local communities and the Odisha Forest Development Corporation sells t

We want India to help in upcoming peace efforts, says Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas (hindu)

Palestinian President calls for international involvement in peace-making. In an interview to The Hindu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Israel is working against the two-state solution, and strong international backing is required to implement it. What are your hopes from this visit to India, your first since 2012? This is my fifth visit to India since 2005. India and its people are very close friends to Palestine, and know very well the meaning of struggling for your independence, for justice and against colonialism. So first of all I’m coming to say thank you to the Indian people that has stood tall for the universal rights of freedom, justice and peace. I’m also coming to thank President [Pranab] Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their generous economic support and will discuss the current situation in Palestine and the region, and how we can strengthen our relations with a country that has an important international weight and that we have a lot to lea

New base, new basket (hindu )

The revised IIP shows India may have been overstating the industrial slowdown in its economy The Index of Industrial Production (IIP), a critical economic indicator, has of late become a source of concern — sometimes unmerited — over the credibility of India’s statistics. The bellwether high-frequency indicator is a key input into making and assessing policies, particularly those pertaining to the manufacturing sector, inflation, interest rates and the flow of credit in the economy. But, in the past few years, the month-on-month IIP has shown excessively low, and even negative growth, which subsequently turned out to be out of sync with the actual manufacturing output growth measured through the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI). The survey for a financial year comes with a lag of about 24 months. The theoretical aim of the IIP is to capture the direction and the trend of industrial production in the country, not the absolute value of industrial production. Its chief utility is as