IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Apr 03 & 04, 2016

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• Life insurance and pension plans are a good option as premiums paid towards these will reduce your taxable income.
• In order to encourage people to save, the government allows for a variety of investments that are tax-exempt. These investments are categorised under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. If you are an individual tax payer (or a Hindu Undivided Family for that matter), you are allowed a certain amount of deductions for investments, expenses and payments, from your gross total income under this section of the IT Act.
• Then, there are tax savings you can make under Section 80CCC. This section of the Income Tax act allows for deductions from investments in pension funds. It’s key to remember that the investment limit of Section 80CCC is clubbed with that of Section 80C. This means that the total amount you can deduct for both sections together is Rs 1,50,000.
• To maximise your tax benefits, it’s a good idea to invest in a range of schemes categorised under these two different sections.
• Some schemes are – Public provident Fund, Traditional Insurance Policies (term and endowment), National Pension Scheme, Fixed Deposits, National Savings certificates, Pension Plans, Equity Linked Savings Scheme, Stamp Duty and Registration charges for a home, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana Account (Girl Child Prosperity Deposit Scheme).

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• For the equipment designed and developed in India, this limit is 40%.
• From this, there is an opinion that it seems indigenous design and development of equipment is not really a priority for the defence ministry; it does not seem to have confidence in the Indian vendors' intent or capacity to design and develop. It apparently believes the Indian firms would just buy the 60% indigenous components rather than do the hard part of the job - design and develop.
• With the new DPP, it will be ensured that there is greater transparency and faster clearances.
• There is introduction of the new category called ‘Buy Indian (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured – IDDM)’.
• This category would have the highest priority, meaning, if there is a product that is designed and developed in India, then foreign/Indian vendors cannot participate in the said tender.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• NITI Aayog to have concurrent jurisdiction in monitoring of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the States and Central Ministries.
• Design of CSS should be broadly like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) with a large number of admissible components in a scheme, and the States being free to choose components to suit their local needs.
• Releases of funds should be simplified, based on yearly authorization. Actual release of cash would be on quarterly basis. Releases should be based on Utilization Certificates of the installment prior to the last installment to a State/UT.

ANSWER: NASA and Microsoft

Explanation:

• The U.S. space agency and tech giant Microsoft have teamed up to create ‘Destination: Mars’, a guided tour of Mars using the same Hololens headset technology that helps scientists plan the Curiosity rover’s activities on Red Planet.
• It will offer people a guided tour of an area of Mars with astronaut Buzz Aldrin this summer in an interactive exhibit using the Microsoft HoloLens mixed reality headset.
  
• “Mixed reality” means virtual elements are merged with the user’s actual environment, creating a world in which real and virtual objects can interact.
• The ‘Destination: Mars’ exhibit will open at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex in Florida.
• Guests will “visit” several sites on Mars, reconstructed using real imagery from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet since August 2012.
• Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon in 1969, will serve as “holographic tour guide” on the journey.
• ‘Destination: Mars’ is an adaptation of OnSight, a Mars rover mission operations tool co-developed by Microsoft and JPL.
• A pilot group of scientists uses OnSight in their work supporting the Curiosity Mars rover’s operations.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• The Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility (CAMM), which was also adopted, is designed to control and organize migration – a pressing concern for the EU. Significantly for the EU, the Agenda for Action includes items on facilitating the return of irregular migrants and the possibility of exploring a ‘Readmission Agreement’ — returning visa over-stayers to their home countries.
• The Agenda also includes the prevention of human trafficking and promoting international protection as priority areas.
• Points of special interest to India on the agenda are likely to be easier visa procedures for skilled workers, IT professionals, and business travellers. For now, the CAMM is a political declaration and not a legal agreement.
• One of the ostensible reasons for stalled talks between the European Union (EU) and India had been the EU’s concern over human right violations in India. A recent letter from Human Rights Watch, an international NGO, to the EU leadership brings up issues of NGO harassment and the overlooking of rights of marginal groups in development projects in India in the context of the India EU Summit.

ANSWER: Proposal to share terrorist information between India and US

Explanation:

• The Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-6) is an agreement for exchange of terrorist screening information between the Terrorist Screening Centre (TCS) of the U.S. and a selected Indian security agency. The TCS has the database of 11,000 terror suspects.
• The database has names of terror suspects, their nationality, date of birth, photos, finger prints and passport number.
• Both RAW and IB objected to this proposal citing security and privacy concerns.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• An international arbitration centre or IAC is where the corporate world goes to settle their disputes. Or, in more formal terms, disputes arising out of commercial agreements in various sectors.
• For one, arbitration is different from court litigation. It is a private negotiation between the lawyers representing the disputing parties. When negotiations reach a stage where a referee or judge or some kind of neutral decision-maker is required, the IAC will have a panel to reach a verdict. These panels would typically be made up of international corporate law experts (sometimes including former jurists) and senior corporate citizens with impeccable credentials. Generally arbitration is less time-consuming than going the legal route.
• In India, such arbitration is governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 2016. Every agreement has a dispute redressal clause, which lays down the ways in which a dispute can be resolved. The options could be going to a normal court of law, mutually appoint an arbitrator or going to an IAC or similar institution.
• The Act lays down a time frame of 18 months for the disputes to be resolved. Disputants can appoint a mutually acceptable judge. And the rulings of such a judge are binding, though a verdict can be challenged in a normal court of law if one or both parties wish to do so.
• Currently, the leading IACs are located at London, Hong Kong and Singapore. While the arbitration centres of Singapore and London have established offices in India, those are only liaison centres.

ANSWER: Cotton

Explanation:

• Muslin is lightweight cotton cloth in a plain weave.
• Early Indian muslin was handwoven of uncommonly delicate handspun yarn, especially in the region of what today is Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. It was imported into Europe for much of the 17th and early 18th centuries.
• Fine linen muslin was formerly known as sindon.
• In 2013, the traditional art of weaving Jamdani muslin in Bangladesh was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

ANSWER: Andhra Pradesh

Explanation:

• Muslin, a fabric of plain weave made in a wide range of weights from delicate sheers, got its name from the port town Machlipatnam, earlier Masulipatnam, in Andhra Pradesh.
• Muslin clothes were traded by ancient Greeks from the town and the word muslin originated from the name Maisolos.
• Muslin was an important source of income for the town, being a favorite of Roman traders for domestic consumption. Several Roman coins were found during excavations of Buddhist towns located near Machilipatnam.

ANSWER: Weight of the person is divided by the square of the person’s height

Explanation:

• BMI stands for body mass index. This index represents the comparison of the person's height and weight.
• The weight of the person is divided by the square of the person’s height.
• The SI unit for measuring BMI in kg/sq.m. BMI should not be treated as a technique for measuring body fat.
• A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.
• One is considered underweight below 18.5, overweight from 25 up, and obese from 30 — when the risk of diabetes, stroke, heart disease and some cancers escalates massively.
• With a BMI of 35 one is categorized as severely obese, and from 40 upward as morbidly so.