Daily G.K Bits:- 03-09-2015

1. Name the state which has launched Onion Mission? (3)

1. Gujarat
2. Maharashtra
3. Odisha
4. Andhra Pradesh
5. Kerala

Expl:- The Odisha government has decided to launch ‘Onion Mission’ in the state. The government will implement ‘Onion Mission’ in order to rein in the exorbitant price of onion in the state. The government will set up 300 cold storage centres across Odisha in which about 25 lakh tonne of onion can be stored that will help in containing the price rise of onion.

2. Recently Union Rural Development Minister launched ‘Samanvay’. It is a programme of…? (1)

1. Compilation of all schemes of central and State governments for Gram panchayats
2. Compilation of all trade policies
3. New scheme for increasing exports from rural areas
4. New agricultural mission, to integrate all agricultural fields in country
5. None

Expl:- Rural Development Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on 4^th August launched SAMANVAY, a compilation of all schemes of both Central and State governments for Gram Panchayats.  The purpose behind bringing out SAMANVAY is to help MPs in utilising relevant schemes in the planning and implementation of Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. More than 1800 state schemes from across all states have been documented in SAMANVAY. The Minister also launched ‘Panchayat Darpan’ magazine to monitor the progress of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. It will act as a mirror of all the development activities in the village panchayats. Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana was launched in October last year under which MPs are to develop three Adarsh Gram Panchayats by 2019. The objective of the programme is to create Model Villages

3. According to UNICEF Southern Regional Head, which of the following Indian state has all social development indices in its favour to declare it as the first child friendly state in India? (5)

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Telanagana
3. Gujarat
4. Maharasthra
5. kerala

Expl:- Kerala has all the social development indices in its favour to declare it as the first Child-friendly State in the country. This was stated in Thiruvananthapuram on 5^th August by UNICEF Southern Regional Head Job Zachariah. According to Job Zachariah UNICEF has made this assessment, based on the remarkable strides Kerala has made in the field of education, health and hygiene, sanitation, cleanliness and safe drinking water supply.

4. To help which of the following, Union government has recently launched three websites? (3)

1. Business persons
2. Unemployed
3. Farmers
4. MSME
5. None

Expl:- The Government has recently launched three web portals for the benefit of farmers. These web portals are: Participatory Guarantee System-India (PGS-India), Fertilizer Quality Control System (FQCS) and Soil Health Card (SHC).  PGS-India portal: PGS is a process of certifying organic products in accordance with the laid down standards and with active participation of stakeholders including producers/farmers, traders and consumers in the certification system. The PGS-India portal is a web based application having online facility for (i) Registration (ii) Approval (iii) Documentation (iv) Record of inspection and (v) Certification.

It can be accessed at the URL www.pgsindia-ncof.gov.in. Fertilizer Quality Control System (FQCS) portal: The FQCS portal is a web based and configurable workflow application developed for processing of fertiliser sample collection, testing and generation of analysis reports.

It can be accessed at the URL www.fqcs.dac.gov.in. Soil Health Card (SHC) portal: The SHC portal is a web based workflow application with following major modules; (i) Soil Samples Registration (ii) Test Result Entry by Soil Testing Labs (iii) Fertilizer Recommendations based on STCR and GFR (iv) Soil Health Card generation along with Fertilizer Recommendation and micronutrient suggestions (v) MIS module for monitoring progress.

It can be accessed at the URL www.soilhealth.dac.gov.in.  PGS-India and Soil Health Card (SHC) portals are web based applications available in the public domain. The information on the portals, which is relevant to the farmers, can be accessed by them. Fertilizer Quality Control System (FQCS) portal is for official use by the fertilizer quality control laboratories.

5. Which of the following is the first in India to launch 4G services? (2)

1. Vodafone
2. Airtel
3. BSNL
4. Aircel
5. Uninor

Expl:- The world’s third-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, on 6^th August became the first to launch 4G services in 296 towns across the country. This follows successful trials in select cities and feedback from customers, the company said. Leading the charge, Airtel had launched the country’s first 4G (also called LTE) network in Kolkata in April 2012. Airtel 4G is available across a range of smart devices such as mobile phones, dongles, 4G hotspots, and Wi-Fi dongles. Apart from the classics, the company is offering videos of Hollywood and Bollywood hits. Users can create their own list of favourite movies and download video content to watch offline anytime, anywhere. Videos can also be paused anytime and users can watch them later. The app will allow multi-device access (up to five) with a single login, the company said.

6. Under Swatch Bharat, which city has emerged as cleanest city in India? (4)

1. Pune
2. Gandhi Nagar
3. Varanasi
4. Mysuru
5. Bangalore

Expl:- Mysuru city is emerging as the cleanest city in the country under Swachh Bharat. It was ranked number 1 out of 476 towns and cities across the country in terms of total sanitation practices, extent of open defecation, solid waste management, water treatment etc. Besides Mysuru, Mandya, Hassan and Bengaluru also figure in the top 10 cities of India in the rankings. The Union Ministry of Urban Development surveyed 476 towns and cities for total sanitation practices covering a set of parameters, including the extent of open defecation, solid waste management, waste water treatment, drinking water quality, surface water quality etc. With broad gauge track doubling work between Mysuru and Bengaluru slated to finish by late December 2015 or early 2016 the commuting time is set to decrease which can lure builders to focus on Mysuru and market it as a second-home destination with clean city as one of its USPs, according to stakeholders.

7. Union Government has recently launched Nai Manzil for welfare of…? (1)

1. Minorities
2. Scheduled Tribes
3. Scheduled Castes
4. OBC
5. Poor in Other castes

Expl:- The Union Minority Affairs Minister Dr. Najma Heptullah on 7^th August launched ambitious scheme Nai Manzil for minorities. This scheme is a bridge course to bridge the academic and skill development gaps of the deeni Madrasa passouts with their mainstream counterparts.  This scheme is beneficial for minority dominated areas specially, Bihar and UP where most of the minority concentrated blocks are in these two states. The idea behind the new scheme is to help the students assimilate with their mainstream counterparts. According to Government estimates, there are at least three lakh madrasas across the country.  With an average of 100 students passing out of each madrasa every year, there are at least three crore new passouts.

8. In which of the following state, a resolution passed against death penalty? (5)

1. Karnataka
2. J & K
3. Kerala
4. Manipur
5. Tripura

Expl:- Tripura legislative assembly on 7 August 2015 passed a resolution against the death penalty. The resolution moved by Congress MLA Jitendra Sarkar requested the Union government to amend the Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and replace it with life sentence unto death. The resolution passed is apparently the fallout of recent hanging of Yakub Memon, prime accused in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The adopted resolution would now be sent to Union government and the Law Commission for consideration. In India, as per Supreme Court directive, death penalty is given in “rarest of the rare case” and President under Article 72 is constitutionally empowered to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of death sentence. In 2103, 72 new death sentences were known to have been imposed in 2013 and at least 400 people were believed to be on death row at the end of the year 2013. Worldwide, over 2/3rd countries of the world have completely abolished death penalty. 97 countries of the world have abolished death penalty for all the crimes.

9. Filipe Nyusi, who recently visited India is the President of ____ (4)

1. Fiji
2. Azarbaizan
3. Croatia
4. Mozambique
5. El-salvador

Expl:- India and Mozambique on 5^th August agreed to deepen cooperation in New and Renewable Energy. The two sides signed an MoU on expanding cooperation in energy sector.  The visiting President of Mozambique, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said new and renewable energy is an important area for sustainable development. He said Africa and the Indian Ocean are among the highest priorities for India’s foreign policy and Mozambique is crucial for both.  The Prime Minister said Mozambique can be a large and a proximate source of natural gas, coal and other minerals to meet India’s energy security. Both leaders discussed ways to intensify cooperation in maritime security and ocean economy as they have large coastlines and are linked by Indian Ocean. Calling the discussions fruitful and positive, Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi said it was decided to enhance cooperation in a number of areas including oil and gas and that Indian companies will be welcomed for more investment in his country.  A high-level delegation, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Minerals and Energy, Agriculture, Transportation and Communications and Interior are accompanying the visiting President besides senior officials and a business delegation.

10. In which city, commonwealth Parliamentary Conference will be held In September, 2015? (3)

1. Colombo
2. Dhaka
3. Islamabad
4. New Delhi
5. Tokyo

Expl:- India on 7 August 2015 decided to boycott the 61st Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference which is slated to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan from 30 September to 8 October 2015. The unanimous decision to boycott the meeting was taken after the conclusion of the meeting of the Speakers of all State Legislative Assemblies that was called in New Delhi. The meeting was called to discuss the Pakistan’s deliberate decision to not invite the Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Kavinder Gupta. India protested the unilateral decision of Pakistan saying that by not inviting J&K speaker, it is violating the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) constitution and was against the guiding principles of the Commonwealth of promotion of international understanding, world peace and democratic governance