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Q-1Consider the following statements regarding NITI Ayog. a) Prime Minister serves as the Ex-officio chairman b) The governing council consists of chief ministers all states and UTs c) The Vice chairman is nominated by Prime Minister 1) a only 2) a, b 3) a,c 4) a,b,c Q- 2 Consider the following statements regarding committee to draft data protection bill. a) Headed by B.N Srikrishna b) The Ministry of Electronics and Information will work with the committee. 1) a only 2) b only 3) both a and b 4) neither a nor b Q-3 Under the administration of which one of the following is the Department of Atomic Energy? a) Prime Minister's Office b) Cabinet Secretariat c) Ministry of Power d) Ministry of Science and Technology. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer 1-3.  2-3, 3- A

Q- 1 Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar who passed away recently is associated to which art? a) Painting b) Classical Music c) Dance d) Flute Q-2 Consider the following statements regarding Angkor wat temple complex? a) It was built by Khmer king Suryavarman. b) Its architecture is a combination of temple mountain and galleried temple. 1) a only 2) b only 3) Both a and b 4) Neither a and b Q- 3 Among the following which is not an core industry included in Index of Industrial Production (IIP) a) Electricity b) Coal c) Pharmaceuticals d) Cement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Answer1-B, 2-C,  3-3

Q-1 Consider the following statements regarding National Investigation Agency (NIA) a) The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the state. b) NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks 1) a only 2) b only 3) both a and b 4) neither a and b Q-2 Consider the statements regarding Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) scheme a) The limit has been increased to 4 kg from 0.5kg. b) The Bonds are issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the government. 1) a only 2) b only 3) both a and b 4) neither a and b Q-3 Consider following statements regarding NHB. a) It is designed by a technical advisory committee comprising Government representatives, lenders and property market players. b) Base year (2012-13) 1) a only 2) b only 3) both a and b 4) neither a and b. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Answer 1-3,  2-3,  3-3

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a step in the right direction for India. But the rates on certain goods are a deep cause of concern. These include scrap material. Before GST, there was no tax on scrap material except on e-waste and metals (6 per cent Value Added Tax). Under the new GST regime, all categories of scrap now have a high tax rate of mostly 18 per cent. Scrap material GST rate Plastic 18% Rubber 18% Glass 18% Iron/ copper/ Aluminium/ tin (Any metal waste) 18% Paper 12% E- waste (Batteries, machine etc.) 18% Vivek, a kabadiwaala (scrap-seller) in Dwarka, New Delhi told Down To Earth: “Due to GST on scrap, our work has reduced because the customer/ waste generators are now getting lesser rates for their recyclable waste. They are looking for better prices elsewhere or just throwing away their waste. Earlier, if we were getting 2.5 quintal per month of paper, now we are hardly getting 2 quintals.” What does this mean for the recycle econ...

People in the US are already feeling the effects of climate change as the average temperature in the country has increased rapidly and drastically since 1980, according to a federal climate change report prepared by scientists from 13 federal agencies. The report, which is awaiting Trump administration’s approval, claims that the recent decades have been the warmest in the past 1,500 years. Attributing the climate change to human activities, especially greenhouse gas emissions, the scientists observed that even if greenhouse gas emission is completely stopped today, the world would still feel at least an additional 0.30°C of warming over this century as compared with today. The report concludes that a small difference in global temperatures can make a huge difference in the climate. In fact, the difference between 1.5°C and 2°C rise in global temperatures could mean longer heat waves and more intense rainstorms. The Environment Protection Agency is one of 13 agencies that must app...

A neglected and old anti-parasitic drug used during the World War II is emerging as a new weapon in the fight against malaria as malaria parasite becomes resistant to currently available drugs. A group of Indian researchers have resurrected acriflavine or ACF which was used as an anti-parasite drug in the last century, and have found it to be effective against malaria parasite. Now they are working to make this molecule more effective using nanotechnology. Researchers at the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have got a patent for antimalarial properties of ACF. They have now joined hands with scientists at the National Institute of Immunology (NII) to develop a nano-formulation of the dug and to study its potential in animal models. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is funding this joint effort. ACF was previously used as a trypanocidal agent against a range of infections during World War II. But due to preferential use of chloroquine...

India needs to carry more weight in seeing through connectivity plans with Afghanistan Two months after the India-Afghanistan air corridor was inaugurated with great expectations, news that it has been hit by a shortage of cargo planes is a cause for concern. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ashraf Ghani had agreed on the project during the Heart of Asia summit in Amritsar in December 2016, as a gamechanger to get around Pakistan’s obstructionist behaviour in delaying truck shipments from Afghanistan to the Wagah border. The fact that Mr. Ghani himself developed the plan, which allowed traders to pay what they would have to transport their goods by road with the Afghan government underwriting the rest, showed Kabul’s commitment to securing its trade links with India. Delhi too affirmed the importance it placed on the trade route: for instance, when the first cargo flight under the arrangement landed in Delhi on June 19, External Affairs Ministers Sushma Swaraj and M.J. Akb...

Iran’s President begins his second term in daunting circumstances at home and abroad Hassan Rouhani has formally begun his second term as Iran’s President in especially challenging circumstances. Conservatives at home are pushing for a hard-line agenda, Sunni states in the Gulf are consolidating a regional alliance against Shia-majority Iran, and the U.S. is turning up the heat on the country’s missile programme. Mr. Rouhani, who won the election on a moderate platform, had drawn hope during his campaign that he would build on the momentum his first term had generated and initiate social reform. It was never going to be easy, given the resolve of the clerical establishment to push back any major attempt to change the status quo. In Iran’s complex, multipolar political system, the President runs the government with a popular mandate but the security establishment reports directly to the Supreme Leader, who can override the government on critical issues. What Mohammad Khatami tried an...

The Supreme Court directive should lead to better access under the Food Security Act The National Food Security Act, 2013, has met with prolonged political indifference, but there is some hope now since the Centre has been asked by the Supreme Court to ensure that States implement key aspects of the progressive law. The directives in the Swaraj Abhiyan case underscore the depressing reality that several State governments have not met key requirements in the legislation which empower the common person in securing subsidised food. Sections 14, 15 and 16, which require the setting up of a grievance redress mechanism and a State Food Commission with responsibility to monitor the implementation of the law, have been heeded only in name, as in Haryana, or not at all. Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s claim last November that the Act covers the entire country is, therefore, not consistent with the facts. As the court has pointed out, Article 256, which casts a responsibility on the St...

The Supreme Court has laid down a benchmark for action against illegal mining In ordering that lease-holders should pay compensation to the extent of 100% of the price of the quantum of minerals they had illegally extracted, the Supreme Court has gone beyond a mere affirmation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle. It has also set a significant benchmark for stringent action against those who indulge in mining without environmental or forest clearance. Even the Central Empowered Committee had recommended compensation to the extent of 30% of the value of the iron ore and manganese ore illegally mined in Odisha, but the court has been firm about not compromising on the quantum of compensation. It is impossible to dispute the court’s reasoning that the defaulter or violator should bear the consequences of the illegality, and therefore cannot be allowed the benefit of “pocketing 70% of the illegally mined ore”. The mining companies tried every possible means of avoiding the tag that they had...

At around 3 pm on a hot April day, the tranquillity of Kochamau, a tribal village in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, was disrupted by the sound of helicopters flying past. As people ran out of their houses, they saw huge machines dangling from the helicopters that were whirring precariously close to the roofs of their houses. Nobody knew what was happening. The sporadic flights continued for weeks, sometimes two-three times a day, till the village residents were informed by Shramik Adivasi Sangathan (SAS), a non-profit working in the region, that the government was exploring the area for uranium deposits and that the helicopters carried machines to send electromagnetic waves to scan underground deposits. The secrecy of the operation was such that no notice boards were on display in the area. When Down To Earth (DTE) visited the forest surrounding Kochamau, there were two giant machines and a few tents. But the guards refused to speak and denied permission to photograph the machines...

It was a chilly February day. Dangwen and his wildlife monitoring team patrolled along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The river was frozen solid, easy for poachers to walk over. That day, they encountered 220 blue sheep, five white-lipped deer, and a line of otter footprints. On the infrared camera traps that they had set up throughout the valley, three snow leopards appeared, a mother and two cubs – and the cubs had grown much bigger than three months earlier. Dangwen comes from Yunta, a village located in Sanjiangyuan, Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau. Sanjiangyuan, is a 400,000 km² area that serves as an important habitat for rich and unique biodiversity and a watershed of the three largest rivers in Asia, the Yellow, Yangtze and Mekong, which serve a billion people downstream. Dangwen isn’t officially a researcher or an activist. But he has taken upon himself the task of monitoring local wildlife with a team of other villagers, as part of a conservation proje...

The sixth Kubuqi International Desert Forum was held from July 29 to July 30 in the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. Participating guests from other countries visited Kubuqi and witnessed the successful practices of Kubuqi’s desertification control. The forum offered them better understanding of the Kubuqi Model. They believe that the Kubuqi Model will play an important role in desertification control in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. International conferences held in China are becoming attractive platforms for sharing effective experiences in promoting global ecological development. Effective systematic planning The core pillars of the Kubuqi Model are government policy support, industrial investment, market-oriented participation of farmers and herdsmen and sustainable ecological improvement. Former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the systematic design of the Kubuqi Model was a unique success, and that its reproducibility was worthy of study. ...

The series of reports, “MMC hostels go without water” (July 30), “A moi virunthu in Washington” (July 30) and “5 more quarries to be tapped for water” (July 29, all Tamil Nadu editions), show that there is a gross mismanagement of traditional water management systems in Tamil Nadu and Chennai city. It is a paradox that after the massive flood of 2015, the city is now in the grip of a punishing drought that continues well into 2017. And it is unlikely that the monsoon in 2017 will help the city tide over the crisis. As a region wholly dependent on a good northeast monsoon, planners cannot afford to be complacent. Most of the innumerable dams and irrigation channels in the State remain bone dry or have reached dead storage levels. One cannot blame a poor monsoon season either. Tamil Nadu is a top groundwater exploiter whereby the extraction of groundwater outstrips recharge. Therefore the conservation of groundwater needs to be given topmost importance. There needs to be constant vigi...

In India, a significant percentage of the population depends on traditional systems of medicine and homoeopathy. In India, a NEET examination is the entry point for all systems of medicines. Apart from basic subjects, every system of traditional medicine and homoeopathy has its own subjects. Irrespective of the system of medicine they practise, all medical graduates have an equal right to be called a doctor. Instead of splitting hairs, the authorities should be looking at those who obtain their medical degrees from Russia, China and other countries where the standards of medical education in allopathy are suspect. In the report, the sentence “MBBS doctors grumbling about traditional medicine practitioners and homoeopaths calling themselves ‘doctors’” was uncalled for. I am sure a prestigious newspaper such as The Hindu does not intend to be the mouthpiece of “some grumblers” (“The ‘Dr’ is in (or is it?)”, July 28). Dr. Beena Amar Bodhi,