Current Affairs Questions & Answers - Nov 24, 2017

ANSWER: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved expansion of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Yojana for a pan India coverage from 2017-18 to 2019-20.

It expansion has proposed outlay of Rs.1132.5 crore. It will cover all the 640 districts (as per census 2011) of the country to have a deeper positive impact on Child Sex Ratio (CSR).

Currently the scheme is being implemented in select 161 districts have low CSR.

BBBP: Know More

• The scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22, 2015 at Panipat, Haryana to address the declining child sex ratio (CSR) and related issues of empowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum.
• The CSR, defined as number of girls per 1000 boys in the age group of 0-6 years, declined sharply from 976 in 1961 to 918 in Census 2011.
• The programme will be completing 3 years in January.
• The latest reports as per HMIS data of ministry of health and family welfare for 161 BBBP districts indicate that for the time period between April-March, 2015-16 and 2016-17, an improving trend in sex ratio at birth (SRB) is visible in 104 districts, 119 districts have reported progress in first trimester registration against the reported anti-natal care registrations and 146 districts have reported improvement in institutional deliveries.
• Currently the scheme is being implemented as a tri-ministerial, convergent effort of ministries of WCD, health and family welfare and human resource development.
• The focus is on awareness and advocacy campaign, multi-sectoral action in select 161 districts, enabling girls' education and to work towards effective enforcement of Pre-Conception & Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act.
• The specific objectives of the scheme include preventing gender biased sex selective elimination; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child and ensuring education.

ANSWER: Dijbouti

Explanation:
Djibouti, where China has opened its first overseas military base, on 23rd Nov agreed to establish strategic partnership to strengthen all-round cooperation with Beijing.

The announcement came as Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

Mr. Guelleh is the first head of state of an African country to visit the country since the ruling Communist Party of China's (CPC's) Congress in October endorsed a second five-year term for Mr. Xi.

China is willing to work with Djibouti to speed up the implementation of the results of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), jointly forge ahead with Belt and Road construction and fully strengthen bilateral cooperation in all fields.

China welcomes Djibouti to participate in the Belt and Road construction and is ready to advance cooperation on infrastructure projects including railways, ports, water supply, liquefied natural gas pipeline, as well as building of a free trade area and cooperation in agriculture.

ANSWER: The Space Activities Bill, 2017

Explanation:
A Bill pending before the Parliament is to encourage both the public and private sectors to participate in the space programme.

The Space Activities Bill 2017 is a proposed Bill to promote and regulate the space activities of India.

The new Bill encourages the participation of non-governmental/private sector agencies in space activities in India under the guidance and authorisation of the government through the Department of Space.

According to the draft, as few start-up companies in India have shown interest in space systems activities and as space activities need participation from private sector agencies, "there is an urgent need for a legal environment for orderly performance and growth of space sector."

The draft was posted on the website of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on November 21, 2017.

Provisions of the Act

• The provisions of this Act shall apply to every citizen of India and to all sectors engaged in any space activity in India or outside India
• A non-transferable licence shall be provided by the Central Government to any person carrying out commercial space activity
• The Central Government will formulate the appropriate mechanism for licensing, eligibility criteria, and fees for licence.
• The government will maintain a register of all space objects (any object launched or intended to be launched around the earth) and develop more space activity plans for the country
• It will provide professional and technical support for commercial space activity and regulate the procedures for conduct and operation of space activity
• It will ensure safety requirements and supervise the conduct of every space activity of India and investigate any incident or accident in connection with the operation of a space activity.
• It will share details about the pricing of products created by space activity and technology with any person or any agency in a prescribed manner.
• If any person undertakes any commercial space activity without authorisation they shall be punished with imprisonment up to 3 years or fined more than ?1 crore or both.

ANSWER: None of the above

Explanation:
After 90 years, the bamboo has legally ceased to be a tree with the government, on Thursday, amending the Indian Forest Act and axing the bamboo - taxonomically a grass - from a list of plants that also included palms, skumps, brush-wood and canes.

In doing so, said Union Environment Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the government hoped to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas to achieve the "twin objectives" of increasing the income of farmers and also increasing the green cover of the country. Bamboo grown in the forest areas would continue to be governed by the provisions of the Indian Forest Act.

For several years now, the classification of the bamboo - with its multifarious uses as an edible item, furniture and construction - as a tree meant that it couldn't be easily ferried across State borders.

It also required permits from village councils and couldn't be cultivated in non-forest areas.

This will now create a viable option for cultivation in 12.6 million hectares of cultivable waste land. It will encourage farmers and other individuals to take up plantation/block plantation of suitable bamboo species on degraded land, in addition to plantation on agricultural land and other private lands under the agro-forestry mission.

Bamboo in India

• The current demand of bamboo in India is estimated at 28 million tonnes.
• Though the country has 19% share of the world's area under bamboo cultivation, its market share in the sector is only 6%. At present, it imports timber and allied products, such as pulp, paper, and furniture.
• In 2015, it imported about 18.01 million cubic metres of timber and allied products worth र43,000 crore.
• The amendment will help in addressing some of these issues, besides meeting the demand from domestic production.

ANSWER: Pink Bollworms

Explanation:
India is likely to export nearly one-fifth less cotton than previously estimated as pink bollworms are set to eat into the south Asian country's output which was expected to hit a record, industry officials told Reuters.

Lower exports from the world's biggest producer will help its rivals like the US, Brazil and Australia to raise their exports to Asian buyers like Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.

Pink Bollworms

• The pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella), is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming.
• The adult is a small, thin, gray moth with fringed wings. The larva is a dull white, eight-legged caterpillar with conspicuous pink banding along its dorsum.
• The larva reaches one half inch in length.
• The pink bollworm is native to Asia, but has become an invasive species in most of the world's cotton-growing regions.
• It reached the cotton belt in the southern United States by the 1920s.
• It is a major pest in the cotton fields of the southern California deserts.
• In parts of India, the pink bollworm is now resistant to first generation transgenic Bt cotton (Bollgard cotton) that expresses a single Bt gene (Cry1Ac).
• Monsanto has admitted that this variety is ineffective against the pink bollworm pest in parts of Gujarat, India.

ANSWER: Both a and c

Explanation:
The President of India has given his assent to the Ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (the Code).

The Ordinance aims at putting in place safeguards to prevent unscrupulous, undesirable persons from misusing or vitiating the provisions of the Code.

The amendments aim to keep out such persons who have wilfully defaulted, are associated with non-performing assets, or are habitually non-compliant and, therefore, are likely to be a risk to successful resolution of insolvency of a company.

In addition to putting in place restrictions for such persons to participate in the resolution or liquidation process, the amendment also provides such check by specifying that the Committee of Creditors ensure the viability and feasibility of the resolution plan before approving it.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has also been given additional powers

ANSWER: 60,000 crores

Explanation:
Gadkari said new road projects worth nearly र12,000 crore would be sanctioned for Tamil Nadu this year. A total of INR 60,000 crore will be spent in TN.

NEW PROJECTS

They are Tiruchi-Chidambaram; Villupuram-Nagapattinam, Chennai-Tada and Poonamallee-Walajahpet .

Nearly 1,300 km of new National Highways will be given for Tamil Nadu at the request of Chief Minister Palaniswami. All the demands of the State government have been met.

ELEVATED CORRIDORS

Three elevated corridors connecting Chennai with the outskirts costing nearly र5,000 crore will be sanctioned by the Centre.

An elevated corridor will connect Tambaram with Chenglepet (cost of र2,250 crore), another from Poonamalle to Maduravoyal (र1,500 crore) and third from Chennai to Vandalur (र1,000 crore).

On the र20,000-crore Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway, Gadkari said the project has been sanctioned and work would start by December 2018 after nearly 80 per cent of land acquisition is done.

Palaniswami has promised that land acquisition would be done at the earliest.

The Centre will soon call a meeting of Chief Ministers concerned to consider a river-linking project that will transfer surplus water from the Godavari to the Krishna, and to the Pennar and the Cauvery in Tamil Nadu.

The Centre will bear nearly 90 per cent of cost of the Pennar project, with the State bearing 10 per cent, he said. Another proposal of bringing water from the Indiravathi river that passes through Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh to the Cauvery is also under consideration.

He also said several thousand crore rupees worth of projects in logistics and ports will be developed in Tamil Nadu.

ANSWER: Cyber4All: Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development

Explanation:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the fifth edition of Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS) in New Delhi.

GCCS is one of world's largest conferences on cyber space. It is for first time organized in India.

The theme of the two-day conference is "Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development".

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD), under the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) is main agency to organize GCCS 2017 on behalf of Government of India. Representatives from 124 countries and 33 Ministerial delegates from 31 countries are attending GCCS 2017.

It is also expected to attract over 2000 delegates from more than 100 countries. Besides that, industry, civil society and academia from various countries will also participate.

ANSWER: Eight

Explanation:
Government will soon initiate a comprehensive 'safe city' plan for women in eight cities for women in eight metropolitan cities of the country.

It will be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Decision in this regard was taken Steering Committee meeting under chairmanship of Union Home Secretary

Steering committee meeting

Municipal Commissioners, Police Commissioners, senior state government officials and civil society representatives attended steering committee meeting.

Besides, representatives of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways also participated.

ANSWER: 2017-18 to 2019-20

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 'Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra' scheme for a period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

The scheme is part of Umbrella Scheme "Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women" of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

It aims at empowering rural women through community participation to create an environment in which they realise their full potential.

PMMSK scheme is envisioned as one-stop convergence support service for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, digital literacy, health and nutrition and employment.