IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Apr 14, 2016

ANSWER: Wildlife Crime

Explanation:

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for India adopting the Statute of the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) and India and becoming its formal member in order to strengthen ties with the member countries in controlling the trans-boundary wildlife crime through communication, coordination, collaboration, capacity building and cooperation in the region.
• The South Asia region is very vulnerable to illegal traffic and wildlife crimes due to presence of precious biodiversity and large markets as well as traffic routes for wildlife products in the south East Asian region. The collaboration in harmonizing as well as enforcing the wildlife protection in the region is considered very important for effective conservation of such precious biodiversity.

ANSWER: 1, 3, 4

Explanation:

• SAWEN, a Regional network is comprised of eight countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It aims at working as a strong regional intergovernmental body for combating wildlife crime by attempting common goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region.
• Adoption of SAWEN statute envisions India being part of the regional intergovernmental body in combating wildlife crime in the region and beyond.

Following objectives have been set to attain the goal:

• To take initiatives for bringing harmonization and standardization in laws and policies of member countries concerning conservation of fauna and flora.
• To document the trend of poaching and illegal trade, and related threats to the natural biodiversity within and across countries in the region.
• To strengthen institutional responses to combat wildlife crime by promoting research and information sharing, training and capacity building, technical support, sharing experiences and outreach.
• To encourage member countries to prepare and implement their National Action Plans in curbing wildlife crime and to collaborate towards effective implementation.

ANSWER: 2, 3

Explanation:

• Government of India approved the National Agriculture Market (NAM) Scheme on 1st July 2015 with the objective to usher much needed agri-marketing reforms in order that farmers produce may fetch the best prices.
• Since agri-market reforms are integral to NAM, reforms of State APMC Act in terms of
  
  (a) a single license for trading to be valid across the State,
  (b) Single point levy of market fee and
  (c) Provision for electronic auction as a mode for price discovery, have been made a pre-condition for integration with NAM.

ANSWER: 2, 3

Explanation:

• Many States and Union Territories expressed their willingness to join NAM, however, detailed proposals were received from 12 States for integration of 365 mandis.
• Of these, 21 mandis from 8 States (Gujarat, Telangana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh) have been selected for the Pilot launch of the NAM e-market platform.

ANSWER: Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana

Explanation:

• Government aim under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin is to construct 1 crore houses in three years.
• The NDA Government has revamped MGNREGA and increased the allocation and mandays. Like MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana also generates employment and wealth in rural areas. Except for steel and cement, all materials used in rural housing such as wood, sand, bricks are produced in villages. The labour for construction is also local.
• The beneficiary also has the option to avail loans upto Rs.70,000 from primary lending institutions. National Housing Bank and NABARD are the regulators for housing sector lending.
• Bringing transparency in the selection of beneficiaries. The data from the Socio Economic Census conducted in 2011 will be used. Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana will be the first programme to use data from SECC to select beneficiaries for individual oriented benefit schemes.
• The list of beneficiaries will be available in the public domain. The criteria for selection is also well known and transparent. The most vulnerable people, selected on the basis of deprivations identified in the SECC, will get priority in the allocation of houses.

ANSWER: Awaas App

Explanation:

• For proper monitoring of the rural housing programme, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin, “Awaas App”, a mobile app was launched.
• The photograph taken on this app is geo-tagged and time stamped. Photos will be taken at different stages of construction and uploaded on Awaas Soft.
• The first photo will be that of the empty plot before construction. This would be the reference point for photographs of all the different stages that are taken and will ensure that houses are completed on time.
• The Centre will also provide administrative expenses which are being used by many states to employ technical staff to monitor quality and progress.

ANSWER: Gurugram

Explanation:

• The decision to change the name of Gurgaon was taken on the basis of several representations recommending “Gurugram” as the appropriate name for the city.
• Its neighbouring district Mewat has been renamed “Nuh”.
• Haryana was a historic land of the Mahabharata period and Gurgaon was a great centre of learning where Guru Dronacharya taught the Pandavas and Kauravas.
• The town derived its name from Guru Dronacharya, who was gifted the village as “gurudakshina” by his students, the Pandavas.
• It came to be known as “Gurugram”, which in the course of time got distorted to Gurgaon.
• For Mewat, it is said that it was a geographical and cultural unit and not a town. It is spread beyond Haryana in adjoining Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
• The headquarters of Mewat district is at Nuh town. The people of the area and the elected representatives had been demanding that the name of Mewat be changed to Nuh.
• The proposal for the name change will now be sent to the Union government for its approval and come into force after a gazette notification. Following the notification, Gurgaon district will also be known as Gurugram.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• Women outlast their husbands by an average of seven years.
• India has more elderly women than men with the sex ratio of the country’s 60-plus population recorded at 1,033 women per 1,000 men in the 2011 Census, up from 1,029 in the 2001 census.
• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has put out these figures in the latest National Sample Survey report on ‘Health in India’, which notes that the share of 60-plus women is higher than that of men in both rural and urban areas.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• India has more elderly women than men. Feminization of ageing is seen in rural and urban areas.
• Experts describe the pattern as feminization of ageing, which in the context of a developing country like India, brings with it health and financial concerns.
• According to the Health in India report, around 70 per cent elderly women in both urban and rural India are economically dependent on others.
• And around 35 per cent of women aged over 80 are immobile.
• Female longevity can be loaded with disadvantages.
• Women traditionally have a much lower economic status than men in the household, which then plays out in the form of financial hardships in their twilight years. They don’t know banking, where the investments have been made or where the money has been kept by the husband.
• Financial constraints are further compounded by illnesses of old age. The survey found a high proportion of the elderly battling chronic illnesses and around 8% of the elderly, particularly those aged over 80, confined to their beds.

ANSWER: Gujarat

Explanation:

• Among rural areas, the highest sex ratio (1,289) was reported in Gujarat and in urban Assam it was recorded as 1,476.
• The overall proportion of the elderly in India, home to the world’s largest youth population, too has gone up. An estimated 87.6 million aged people live in India, about 69 per cent of them in rural parts.
• In 1981, the share of the elderly population per 1,000 in rural India was 68, which went up to 88 in 2011. In urban India, the elderly share was recorded at 54 per 1,000 in 1981, going up to 81 in the 2011 Census. But about 50 per cent of the elderly population is totally economically dependent on others.