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Q- Which of the following is correct about G-20? 1. G-20 was formed in 1999 2. It is economic, political and security organisation A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None of the above Q- The Eastern and the Western Ghats meets in? (a) Nilgiri Hills. (b) Cardamom Hills (c) Lushi Hills (d) None of the above. Q- Which of the following countries participate in the Malabar exercise? 1. India 2. US 3. Australia 4. Japan A. 1,2 only B. 2,3 only C. 1,2 and 4 only D. All of the above. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Answer  1-A,  2-A,  3-C

Q- Asia-Africa Growth Corridor is an economic cooperation agreement between which of the following countries? A. India and South Africa B. India and Democratic republic of Congo C. India and Japan D. China and South Africa Q- Which of the following is correct about G-20? 1. G-20 was formed in 1999 2. It is economic, political and security organisation A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None of the above Q- Which of the following is correct regarding Rural infrastructure development fund? 1. It was first announced in 2000-2001 budget 2. It is under NABARD 3. It provides loans only to state governments A. 1,2 B. 2,3 C. 2 Only D. All. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer  1-C,  2-A,  3-C

Q- India and Israel signed a strategic partnership agreement recently. Which of the following has been part of the agreement? 1. $4000 million joint fund for research and development in innovation 2. They agreed to cooperate to combat the growing radicalisation and terrorism, including in cyberspace A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None Q- Which of the following are not the functions of the election commission 1) Conduct of election for the post of the speaker and the deputy speaker, Lok sabha and the deputy chairman, Rajya sabha 2) Conduct of elections to the state legislative assemblies 3) Deciding on all doubts and disputes arising out of elections a) 1 and 2 b) 1 and 3 c) 2 and 3 d) 2 Q- Which of the following is not a principle organ of UN? A. Security Council B. International court of Justice C. Economic and Social Council D. WIPO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

Sitting in the glass-and-concrete State Convention Centre in the capital of hilly state, Meghalaya, participants of a media workshop on climate change were feeling sweaty. The convention centre is not air-conditioned nor does it have ceiling fans. For the comfort of guests, some pedestal fans were plugged in. Why are we sweating in Shillong? Asked state information technology minister Dr M Ampareen Lyngdoh. The question may sound strange for those who have read in tourist brochures and text books about the wettest places on the planet being in Meghalaya and about its round-the-year cool weather. The answer to this question came in the form of a new study done by researchers from the Water and Climate Lab at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar. The study has shown that air temperature in the state is rising at the rate of 0.031 degree per year. The trend is consistent from 1981 to 2014, barring the years 1991 and 1992. This translates into 1 degree centigrade rise bet...

A recent global report says India brings up the rear on most critical fronts to fight the disease In 2015, India accounted for nearly 2.8 million (27%) of the 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world, and 0.48 million (29%) of the 1.8 million TB deaths globally. Yet, India brings up the rear on most critical fronts to fight the disease. This has been clearly highlighted by the ‘Out of Step’ report. Released recently by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Stop TB Partnership, the report surveyed 29 countries that account for 82% of the global TB burden. Lag in practice, policy Correct and timely diagnosis of TB is the first step in treating the disease and preventing its spread. Unfortunately, both the private and public sector in India heavily rely on smear microscopy as the initial diagnostic test. This is despite smear microscopy’s ability to diagnose only about 50% of the positive cases. The over-reliance on the century-old method becomes particularly worrying...

A staggering 130 new amphibians have been discovered in the Western Ghats since the year 2000. So what does this mean for science? Dusk descended slowly in tones of grey and ink blue: just what wildlife biologist Robin Abraham and his team were waiting for. It was dark in the freshwater swamp they were standing in, under the dense canopies of enormous evergreen Myristica (native nutmeg) trees. Water trickled quietly under a mesh of half-foot-high aerial Myristica roots. Flicking off leeches and swarming mosquitoes, and undistracted by the strong, muddy smell of wild elephants in the vicinity, the team combed the drenched ground and bushes with a torch for some rather under-appreciated denizens of these forests—frogs. And then they heard it: a call they had never heard before. Trk...trrrrrr. Trk...trrrrrr. A faint call from a low-hanging vine. The team huddled in excitement: a roughly 5 cm long, rust-brown arboreal frog with little bulbous toe tips and yellow-tinted eyes. It was ...

The impacts of annual ban on trawl fishery will be assessed The marine ecosystems of eastern Arabian Sea would soon become the stage for a series of biogeochemical and biological studies, which are expected to throw light into the ocean dynamics and economy. The Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE), Kochi, and the Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management – Project Directorate, Chennai, both functioning under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, have drawn up a three-year-programme to study the coastal seas of western India. The researchers have primarily identified health of sea, carbon credit, biological productivity, trawl ban effects and oceanography as the thrust areas for the research. Under the category health of sea, the researchers would assess ecosystem status of western coastal India for biological resources which are influenced either by natural processes or man-made effects. The green house gas emissions from the ecosystems would be assessed for r...

Augmentin combines an antibiotic and an inhibitor, thus being effective against TB Bacteria develop resistance against a drug only when they are exposed to it or when the drug is misused. But now, a team of researchers from India has found whether and how drug resistance can develop against a candidate drug called Augmentin even before the drug is approved for treating patients with drug-resistant TB. Augmentin is currently undergoing clinical trials in patients with drug-resistant TB; it is already being used for common bacterial infections. Besides deciphering the mechanism by which TB bacteria can develop resistance against Augmentin, the researchers have found ways of overcoming this potential resistance mechanism, thereby making Augmentin a potentially powerful drug to treat both multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). The beta-lactam class of antibiotics such as penicillin, ampicillin and amoxicillin is one of the most widely used class ...

Nearly 200 such candidates were found A team of six scientists has discovered the presence of a large number of what are known as giant radio galaxies (GRGs) across the universe. Such galaxies are, as the name suggests, huge, and the smallest one in this batch that has been discovered could big enough to hold 33 copies of the Milky Way placed next to each other. The galaxies have a supermassive black hole, which could be even billions of times as massive as the Sun, at their centre. Jets of charged particles are ejected from this black hole at very high speeds, close to that of light. In fact, the jets reach out to a distance even larger than the giant galaxies which host them, making the galaxy prominent when imaged with a radio telescope. Nearly 200 new GRG candidates spread across the sky were found by the six researchers, most of whom were in institutes in Pune. “Twenty-five select galaxies are published in this work. [The] Rest will be published soon. Some are followed up for...

They may overtax kidneys and reduce muscles’ ability to recover, say studies Taking ibuprofen and related over-the-counter painkillers could have unintended and worrisome consequences for people who vigorously exercise. These popular medicines, known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, work by suppressing inflammation. But according to two new studies, in the process they potentially may also overtax the kidneys during prolonged exercise and reduce muscles’ ability to recover afterward. Anyone who spends time around people who exercise knows that painkiller use is common among them. Some athletes joke about taking “vitamin I,” or ibuprofen, to blunt the pain of strenuous training and competitions. Others rely on naproxen or other NSAIDs to make hard exercise more tolerable. NSAID use is especially widespread among athletes in strenuous endurance sports like marathon and ultramarathon running. But in recent years, there have been hints that NSAIDs might not hav...

The Smart Cities Mission calls for appropriate local spatial development plans Cities in India are governed by multiple organisations and authorities which have their own jurisdictions; thus Indian cities are characterised by multiple boundaries. The governing authorities in a city include urban local bodies (ULB) with the primary functions of service delivery, planning for socio-economic development and regulation of development. This results in their subdivision into different wards. Large cities also have development authorities, urban development authorities or improvement trusts responsible for planning and development that divide cities into various planning zones. Line departments, that is sector-specific organisations, deal with the provision of services in their respective sectors — the water supply agency has its own supply zones. Sewage disposal is also done based on various zones. The organisations responsible for safety and security delineate another set of zones. None ...