22 September 2022: Daily Current Affairs & GK for HAS/HPAS & Allied Services
1. Consider the following statements regarding PM PRANAM (PM Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana)
1) The
main objective of the scheme is to reduce subsidy on chemical fertilisers.
2) Union
cabinet has announced a budgetary allocation of Rs 100 crores for the
implementation of the scheme.
3) Under
the scheme, union government will compare a state’s increase or reduction in
urea in a year, to its average consumption of urea during the last three years.
Which of
the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 &
3 only
c) 1 &
3 only
d) 2 only
ANSWER
(C)
·
Statement 1 is correct: In order to
reduce the use of chemical fertilisers by incentivising states, central
government introduced a new scheme – PM PRANAM (PM Promotion of Alternate
Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana.)
·
Statement 2 is not correct: The scheme
will not have a separate budget and will be financed by the savings of existing
fertiliser subsidy under schemes run by the Department of fertilisers.
·
Statement 3 is correct: Subsidy saving structure:
o 50%
subsidy savings will be passed on as a grant to the state that saves the money,
o 70%
of the grant provided under the scheme can be used for asset creation related
to technological adoption of alternate fertilisers and alternate fertiliser
production units at village, block and district levels.
o The
remaining 30% grant money can be used for incentivising farmers, panchayats,
farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and self-help groups (SHGs) that are
involved in the reduction of fertiliser use and awareness generation.
o The
government will compare a state’s increase or reduction in urea in a year, to
its average consumption of urea during the last three years.
2. ‘Doctrine
of essentiality’ was evolved in which Supreme Court judgment:
a) Kesavananda
Bharati
b) Minerva
Mill Case
c) Shirur
Mutt case
d) Navtej
Singh Johar case
ANSWER (C)
·
The doctrine of "essentiality" was
invented by a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the 'Shirur Mutt' case
in 1954. The court held that the term "religion" will cover all
rituals and practices "integral" to a religion, and took upon itself
the responsibility of determining the essential and non-essential practices of
a religion.
3. With
reference to the Indian economy, consider the following statements:
1) If
the inflation is too high, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to buy
government securities.
2) If
the rupee is rapidly depreciating, RBI is likely to sell dollars in the market.
3) If
interest rates in the USA or European Union were to fall, that is likely to
induce RBI to buy dollars.
Which of
the statements given above are correct?
a) 1
and 2 only
b) 2
and 3 only
c) 1
and 3 only
d) 1,
2 and 3
1) Correct
Answer
ANSWER (B)
·
Statement 1 is incorrect: If the
inflation is too high, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to reduce the
money supply in the economy to control inflation. Thus, RBI sells the
government securities so as to suck the excess of money supply from the economy
and to control the inflation.
·
Statement 2 is correct: The Reserve Bank
of India intervenes in the currency market to support the rupee as a weak
domestic unit can increase a country’s import bill. There are a variety of
methods by which RBI intervenes. It can intervene directly in the currency
market by buying and selling dollars. If RBI wishes to prop up rupee value,
then it can sell dollar and when it needs to bring down rupee value, it can buy
dollars.
·
Statement 3 is correct: When the US
raises its domestic interest rates, this tends to make India less attractive
for the currency trade. As a result, some of the money may be expected to move
out of the Indian markets and flow back to the US, therefore decreasing the
value of India’s currency against the US dollar. Thus, if interest rates in the
USA or European Union were to fall, the value of rupee against the dollar
increases and that is likely to induce RBI to buy dollars.
4. Consider
the following statements, with respect to PM CARE Fund
1) Home
minister is ex-officio chairman of Board of trustee of fund.
2) It
provides support and relief measure in case of natural as well as man-made
calamity or distress.
3) The
fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals and
organizations and does not get any budgetary support.
4) It
is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in every financial
year
Which of
the statements given above are correct?
a) 1
,2 and 3only
b) 2
and 3 only
c) 2
,3 and 4 only
d) 1,
2. 3 and 4
ANSWER (B)
·
Statement 1 is not correct.
o
The Prime Minister is Chairperson
(ex-officio) of the PM CARES Fund and Minister of Defence, Minister of Home
Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of
the Fund.
o
PM (Chairman) can also nominate three
trustees to the Board who shall be eminent persons in the field of research,
health, science, social work, law, public administration and philanthropy.
o
The primary objectives of the PM CARES Fund
Trust are: -
·
Statement 2 is correct:
o
To undertake and support relief or assistance
of any kind relating to a public health emergency or any other kind of
emergency, calamity or distress, either man-made or natural, including the
creation or upgradation of healthcare or pharmaceutical facilities, other
necessary infrastructure, funding relevant research or any other type of
support.
·
Important Features of the fund:
o
PM CARES Fund accepts voluntary contributions
by individuals/organizations as well as contributions as part of CSR from
Companies/Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). However, does not get any
budgetary support. Hence statement 3 is correct.
o
PM CARES Fund is audited by an independent
auditor. Trustees of the Fund during the 2nd meeting held on 23.04.2020 decided
to appoint M/s SARC & Associates, Chartered Accountants, New Delhi as the
auditors of PM CARES Fund for 3 years ( Not CAG). Hence statement 4 is not
correct.
·
Source : https://indianexpress.com/article/india/ratan-tata-pm-cares-narendra-modi-8163995/
5. Which
of the following expenditures are included in the capital expenditure
1) Money
spent on construction of Roads
2) Acquiring
fixed and intangible assets
3) Repayment
of loans
4) Paying
salaries of employees
Which of
the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1
and 2 only
b) 1,
3 and 4 only
c) 1,
2 and 3 only
d) 2
and 4 only
e) Correct
Answer
ANSWER (C)
- Capital spending is associated with investment or development
spending, where expenditure has benefits extending years into the future.
Capital expenditure includes money spent on the following:
·
Option 2 is correct: Acquiring
fixed and intangible assets
·
Option 1 is correct: Money spent on construction of Roads
o
Upgrading an existing asset
o
Repairing an existing asset
·
Option 3 is correct: Repayment
of loan etc.
·
Option 4 is not correct: Unlike
capital expenditure, which creates assets for the future, revenue expenditure
is one that neither creates assets nor reduces any liability of the government.
Salaries of employees, interest payment on past debt, subsidies, pension, etc,
fall under the category of revenue expenditure.
6. The
values of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ in the Preamble of Indian
Constitution is taken from which of the following countries?
a) USA
b) France
c) UK
d) Russia
ANSWER (B)
·
The values of liberty, equality and
fraternity in our Preamble is taken directly from the national motto of France:
Liberté, égalité, fraternité, which in turn came from the French Revolution
(1789).
7. Consider
the following statements regarding the Criminal Procedure (Identification)
Rules, 2022:
1. The
rules explicitly prevent the use of facial recognition technology while
allowing the collection of biological samples like fingerprint.
2. The
rules lay down procedure for police and central investigating agencies to
collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and
iris scans of arrested persons.
Which of
the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1
only
b) 2
only
c) 1
and 2
d) Neither
1 nor 2
ANSWER (B)
·
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the
rules governing The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022. The
legislation would enable police and central investigating agencies to collect,
store and analyse physical and biological samples including retina and iris
scans of arrested persons.
·
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under
MHA will be the one-stop agency for storing and preserving the data of arrested
persons.
·
The State governments can also store the
data, but it shall provide compatible application programming interfaces for
sharing the measurements or record of measurements with the NCRB.
·
Source:https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/explained-rules-for-identifying-criminals/article65919414.ece
8. Shrinkflation refers to —
a) A
combination of slow growth, high unemployment and rising prices in an economy.
b) An
economy undergoing stagnated growth and inflation
c) Shrinking
(reducing) levels of inflation
d) Package
downsizing while keeping price of a consumer good the same.
ANSWER (B)
·
Shrinkflation refers to the tampering of a
product (usually downsizing it so that now it contains less amount of good)
while maintaining retail price. It is also known as the grocery shrink ray,
deflation, or package downsizing.
