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Q- Which of the following statement is/are correct about making Aadhar mandatory for filling income tax & Pan card I. It will Greatly help India’s GDP. II. For this government had added section 139AA to income tax act, 1961 through finance act 2017. A. I only B. II only C. Both D. None Q- 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-1. Mars, the red planet is the 2nd planet from the Sun. 2. Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. 3. Mars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and the dusty atmosphere to look red. Which of the following statements is/are true-? a. 1 & 2 b. 1 & 3 c. 2 & 3 d. All of the above.

Ques- With reference to Nuclear Power Programme of India, which of the following statements is not correct? 1. India's three-stage nuclear power programme was conceived by Homi Bhabha. 2. First stage of the Programme is Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. 3. Second stage of the Programme is Thorium Based Reactors. 4. All of the above are correct Click Here For Answer Ques- Which of the following is correct about Astrosat? 1. Astrosat is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory 2. It was launched on a PSLV-XL A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None Click Here For Answer Ques- Which of the following is correct about deaths due to HIV/AIDS? 1. Deaths caused by AIDS have risen to 1.9 million in 2016 from 1 million in 2005 2. More than 95 percent of the cases in 2016 happened in ten countries A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Q- ‘Economic Justice’ the objectives of Constitution has been as one of the Indian provided in A. the Preamble and Fundamental Rights B. the Preamble and the Directive Principles of State Policy C. the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy D. None of the above Q- Consider the following statements about Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012: 1. The Act drafted by the ministry of Woman & child development. 2. The identity & privacy of the child will have to be protected. 3. The special court may in appropriate order on interim compensation to meet immediate needs of the child. Which of the above statement are/is true ? A. 1 and 2 B. 1 and 3 C. 2 and 3 D. All Q- Which of the following statements is/are correct about trade facilitation agreement? 1. The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) sets forth a series of measures for expeditiously moving goods across borders. 2. India’s National Trade Facilitation Action Plan is

Q- With reference to Nuclear Power Programme of India, which of the following statements is not correct? 1. India's three-stage nuclear power programme was conceived by Homi Bhabha. 2. First stage of the Programme is Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors. 3. Second stage of the Programme is Thorium Based Reactors. 4. All of the above are correct Q- Which of the following is correct about Astrosat? 1. Astrosat is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory 2. It was launched on a PSLV-XL A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None Q- Which of the following is correct about deaths due to HIV/AIDS? 1. Deaths caused by AIDS have risen to 1.9 million in 2016 from 1 million in 2005 2. More than 95 percent of the cases in 2016 happened in ten countries A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer 1-3,  2-C,  3-B

Q- Which of the following statements are correct? 1. In India 90 percent of workers work in organised sector 2. Unorganised sector is not given any social security in India A. 1 only B. 2 only C. None D. Both Q- Which of the following is correct regarding BharatNet? 1. It seeks to connect all of India’s households, particularly in rural areas through broadband 2. Bharat Broadband Network Ltd is handling the roll out of optical fibre network. A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None Q- Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on NW-1 is being implemented with the financial and technical support of which of the following? A. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank B. Asian development bank C. OECD D. World Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer 1-C,  2-C,  3-D

Q- During National emergency who has the power to suspend the operation of Fundamental rights a) Parliament b) Supreme court c) President d) Prime Minister Q- Which among the following are reasons for coral bleaching? 1. Elevated sea temperature due to climate change 2. Increase in zoo-plankton 3. Sedimentation activities from under the sea A. 1,3 B. 1,2 C. 2,3 D. All Q- Which of the following is correct regarding Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership? 1. It is a proposed FTA between ASEAN and Six states with which ASEAN has FTA’s 2. RCEP contains 24% of the world GDP A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both D. None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Answer  1-C,  2-D,  3-C

Q- Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve from where eco-bridges are created is part of which of the following state? A. Andhra Pradesh B. Tamil Nadu C. Maharashtra D. Kerala Q- Which of the following genetically-modified seeds are allowed in India? 1. Bt cotton 2. Bt Brinjal 3. Bt Mustard A. 1,3 B. 1,2 C. 2,3 D. 1 only Q- Arrange these water bodies from west to east- 1. South China Sea 2. Gulf of Thailand 3. Philippines sea A. 1-2-3 B. 1-3-2 C. 2-1-3 D. 3-2-1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Answer  1-C,  2-D,  3-C

Q- Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs used by Indian Navy are imported from which of the following country? A. USA B. Russia C. Israel D. France Q- Which of the following is part of Insolvency and bankruptcy act? a) decision to liquidate a company will have to be reached within 180 days. b) setting up of an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to regulate insolvency professionals and agencies. A) a only B) b only C) Both D) None. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer   1-C,  2-C

Doctors have long been using biopsy to diagnose liver fibrosis. A new study says it may be possible to diagnose the liver disease with a blood test in future. Researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, working in collaboration with Justus Liebig University in Germany, have identified diagnostic markers for liver fibrosis. With these markers, it will be possible to diagnose liver fibrosis from blood samples. It will make diagnosis easier to perform, non-invasive, and less prone to sampling errors, researchers say in their study published in journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology. The new study has reported that patients of liver fibrosis have elevated levels of two proteins—Cathepsin L and Cathepsin B—in liver tissues as well as blood plasma, compared to healthy people. The increased levels of these two proteins open the possibility of designing a new and better diagnosis for liver disease. There is progressive increase in concentrati

The occurrence of genetic diseases in certain subpopulations in India and other countries in South Asia is well known. Indian scientists now suspect that this could be due to genetic isolation caused by endogamous marriages over generations. Endogamous marriages—meaning people marrying within a subpopulation based on caste, gotra, language or culture—lead to reduced genetic variation. They are different from marriages among close relatives (consanguineous marriages), a practice also prevalent in parts of South India. In genetics, the phenomenon of a small number of ancestors giving rise to many descendants is known as “founder event” or a population bottleneck. A study of anthropologically different subpopulations in South Asia has revealed that many of them are a result of strong ‘founder events’. In each of such groups, large stretches of DNA originates from a common founder in the last about 100 generations. There is less genetic variation because these subpopulations have li

A group of Indian scientists have identified molecules which are effective in inhibiting the growth of tuberculosis-causing bacteria - Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The molecules target an important gene, IdeR, which is essential for the survival of the bacteria. This development could lead to new drugs against TB in future. “We have identified inhibitory molecules against IdeR, a key iron regulator that is crucial for survival of the TB pathogen,” said Prof. Anil K. Tyagi, a senior scientist at the University of Delhi and lead researcher of the study. The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. In laboratory studies, the new molecules were not toxic in human liver cells and kidney cells and could efficiently reach the bacteria present within the cell, researchers said. For decades treatment of TB has remained unchanged. Patients have to take multiple drugs over 6 to 9 months, which makes the treatment effective but largely inefficient due to associated side

The CAG audit report of the Centre’s crop insurance schemes has highlighted gaps in their implementation that compromise its purpose of providing financial assistance to farmers. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) looked into the performance of two schemes—Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) and the National Crop Insurance Programme (NCIP) —between Kharif season of 2011 to Rabi season of 2015-16. NDA government’s ambitious Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, which came into force in Kharif 2016, was not been scrutinised by the CAG. Delayed payments The report suggested delay at the state level caused obstruction in providing financial aid to farmers. The report found that Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare released funds, but the delay took place at the state government level, it stated. Protocol not followed According to the report, the Agricultural

2.1 billion people lack safe drinking water at home 4.5 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation 2.3 billion people do not have basic sanitation services 844 million people do not have even a basic drinking water service Every three out of 10 people globally lack access to safe drinking water at home. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Every three out of 10 people globally lack access to safe drinking water at home. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Too many people still lack access to safe drinking water and safely managed sanitation, particularly in rural areas. This is the overriding conclusion of the latest Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report by the WHO and UNICEF titled 'Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and Sustainable Development Goal baselines'. According to the report, which includes estimates for 96 countries on safely managed drinking water and 84 countries on safely managed sanitation, every three out of 10 people globally lack

An analysis of the government’s flagship national agriculture insurance scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), has suggested that while being far superior to previous such schemes, its implementation is seriously compromised. The report was released by New Delhi based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment. CSE’s deputy director general Chandra Bhushan, said, “This assessment is based on our field study in Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, as well as national level engagement with various stakeholders including farmer and farmers organisations, insurance companies and government departments.” Across the world, agriculture insurance is recognised as an important part of the safety net for farmers to deal with the impacts of extreme and unseasonal weather due to climate change. The hits and misses of PMFBY The PMFBY was launched by the Centre on April 1, 2016 to help farmers cope with crop losses due to unseasonal and extreme weather. It replaced the N

The steady loss of mangroves in the Sundarbans makes conservation efforts vital Fresh evidence of loss of forest cover in the Indian Sundarbans, which represent a third of the largest contiguous mangrove ecosystem in the world, is a reminder that an accelerated effort is necessary to preserve them. Long-term damage to the highly productive mangroves on the Indian side occurred during the colonial era, when forests were cut to facilitate cultivation. As a recent Jadavpur University study has pointed out, climate change appears to be an emerging threat to the entire 10,000 sq km area that also straddles Bangladesh towards the east, and sustains millions of people with food, water and forest products. There is also a unique population of tigers that live here, adapted to move easily across the land-sea interface. The Sundarbans present a stark example of what loss of ecology can do to a landscape and its people, as islands shrink and sediment that normally adds to landmass is trapped u

The UN must quickly pick up the pieces to restart talks on the reunification of Cyprus The failure in Geneva last week of a round of talks on the reunification of Cyprus is by all measures a huge diplomatic setback. This is not the first time the United Nations-backed dialogue between the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot state in the north and the Greek-Cypriot Republic of Cyprus has been deadlocked. Even so, the current stalemate is disappointing as the prospects for a final deal had been pinned on the two interlocutors — Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Mustafa Akinci, his counterpart in Northern Cyprus. Both represent a generation that regards the status quo as an everyday reminder of the memories of partition of the island, whose combined population is just about one and a half million. The split took place in 1974 when Turkey invaded the north after an Athens-backed coup in Cyprus aimed at annexing the island. Among the main challenges the two leaders face is the demand for res

All children diagnosed with TB must get paediatric fixed-dose combination drugs About 5,500 of over 76,000 children tested in nine Indian cities have been diagnosed with tuberculosis, 9% of them with multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), highlighting the silent spread of the disease. Though the actual prevalence of MDR-TB among children in India is not known, the results from a limited number of children tested in this sample, under the Revised National TB Control Programme, is worrying. According to a 2015 study, of the over 600 children who had tested positive for TB in four cities, about 10% showed resistance to Rifampicin, a first-line drug. Since the incidence of TB among children is a reflection of the prevalence of the disease in the community at large, the high prevalence of both drug-sensitive TB and drug-resistant TB in children from these nine cities is a grim reminder of the failure of the health-care system to diagnose the disease early enough in adults and start them on tr

The Trump administration’s new sanctions on Iran threaten stability in West Asia The U.S. administration’s decision to slap sanctions on 18 Iranian individuals and entities on Tuesday, only a day after it certified to Congress that Tehran was compliant with the conditions of the nuclear deal, sums up its strategic resolve in taking on the Islamic Republic and the tactical dilemma it faces while doing so. It is no secret that President Donald Trump has been critical of the Iran nuclear deal, which ended the international sanctions on Tehran in return for curbing its nuclear programme. During the campaign, Mr. Trump had vowed to either kill or renegotiate the agreement. But as President, his options are limited with Iran remaining compliant with the terms of the agreement. More important, it is not a bilateral pact. The nuclear deal was reached among seven entities, including the U.S., Russia, Germany and Iran. Any unilateral move to withdraw from the agreement would hurt American int

The government must urgently frame a national policy for influenza immunisation So far this year, 12,500 people have been infected with the influenza A (H1N1) virus, of which 600 have died. According to official data, Maharashtra alone has registered 284 deaths, which by itself is much more than the total mortality figure of 265 in the country as a result of H1N1 in 2016. Even in the first three months of 2017, the number of cases and deaths were fairly high, at over 6,000 and 160, respectively. Maharashtra could have recorded the highest number of cases and deaths caused by the H1N1 virus because of better awareness and and a relatively more robust surveillance system. But there is every possibility of a spike in the number of cases in the coming months with cooler temperatures setting in and winter still months away. Though the incidence of H1N1 is likely to be less than in 2015, when the death toll was about 3,000, the steady toll being taken by “swine flu” is a big cause for con

As a carrier of our cultural memory, language is a precious heritage. The diversity of languages and dialects across the world is symptomatic of the multiplicity of the systems of traditional knowledge systems which have entered the web of multiple modernities resisting monolithic cultural imposition. Globalisation, unfortunately, has unleashed forces that tend to suppress minority voices and their languages. G.N. Devy rightly underlines the gradual extinction of languages of small communities, especially of Adivasis, whose language citizenship is under relentless assault (“Gain in translation”, July 21). But it is not only due to the state’s apathy to languages. The social acceptability given to languages with a pan-Indian appeal such as English and Hindi at the cost of regional languages by the communities themselves is equally to blame. According to UNESCO, even languages such as Garhwali and Kumaoni in Uttarakhand are in the category of endangered languages. City-born Paharis deem

The decision of the government to create giant entities to face competition effectively offers superficial substantiation. ONGC is already weak (Editorial – “Bigger, better?” July 21). The move to merge public sector entities to create larger entities is only to ensure that the public sector is wiped out soon. It also supports this government’s election promise of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. The Nehruvian policy was to create a number of public sector companies to ensure growth in a state of what is called in economics as ‘Perfect Competition’. Now the policy is to merge all such companies and make it easy for a sellout or closure. One sees this in the field of general insurance too. Having opened the floodgates to private operators, there is now a plan to merge the four giant entities “to face competition effectively”.

India’s leading tiger conservationist says the government should get out of the business of surveys and leave it to scientists and researchers K. Ullas Karanth, an expert on tigers, is the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society-India Programme. In the early 1990s, Mr. Karanth pioneered the technique of using camera traps as a method to get an estimate of India’s tiger population. Despite having been on the boards of several government organisations, he’s also a trenchant critic of government’s conservation policies. In an interview, he explains why India shouldn’t be complacent about the success of ‘Project Tiger’ and how several areas of wildlife conservation in the country continue to be neglected. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has estimated a rise in the number of tigers killed in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. Is it a matter of concern? As a rough estimate, there are, say, 3,000 tigers in India, 1,000 of whom are

If not designed right, well-meaning policies do not necessarily change lives “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programmes by their intentions rather than their results,” said legendary American economist Milton Friedman in a television interview in 1975. Friedman was pointing out to the precious fact that policies that look fair and just at first sight often end up hurting the very people they were supposed to help. Today, his words of wisdom can help Kerala in dealing with its discontented nurses. Nurses in the southern State called off their indefinite strike recently after the State government agreed to their demand for a minimum wage of at least ₹20,000 per month. Supporters of the higher minimum wage promised by the government believe that nurse wages are presently set too low by private hospitals arbitrarily. So, they say, it is justified that the government intervenes to protect the rights of nurses. As much as the argument of these do-gooders sounds con

Who’d have thought under the MPC, the first case of deviation of the inflation rate would undershoot the target? The official inflation rate dipped to 1.5% last month, the lowest in almost two decades. Inflation is a politically more sensitive challenge than joblessness for the simple reason that it affects everyone, whether you have a job or not. India’s long-term record in managing inflation has been very impressive when compared with most developing countries. We have never had the bouts of hyperinflation experienced in many Latin American economies or seen even in countries such as Israel. The relatively high double-digit inflation experienced between 2010 to 2013 was an aberration, which had a political consequence. There have been very few instances of such persistent, multi-year, high inflationary episodes in our history. The credit for this goes to the vigilance of the political system and also to effective monetary management. Inflation is after all a monetary phenomenon