IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Aug 27 & 28, 2016

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• Durand Cup is a prestigious football tournament conducted in the country.
• It was instituted in 1888 at Shimla by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand.
• It is the oldest tournament in Asia and third oldest in the world after Football Association Cup of England and Scotland Football Association Cup.
• The Defence Services have been associated in organizing Durand Football Tournament right from its inception.
• Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, Chief of Air Staff & Chairman Chief of Staff Committee is the President of the Durand Football Tournament Society.
• This year i.e. 2016 it is the 128th Edition of Durand Football Tournament.

ANSWER: TERI University

Explanation:

• Pitching for green energy and innovative solutions for efficient technology management, railways has set up a Chair on sustainable mobility at TERI University, New Delhi.
• Indian Railways Chair for Sustainable Mobility would focus and promote research on issues of sustainable mobility, use of energy efficient technology and green energy initiatives by the Railways and would facilitate research into finding innovative solutions to these issues.
• The Chair would also focus on research in various aspects of railways that has emerged as crucial mode of transport to achieve sustainable development in the country.
• The Chair is expected to involve itself into issues of sustainable development especially relevant to the rail infrastructure, use of energy efficient technology and green energy initiatives of the Railways and to research into finding innovative solutions to these.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• With a view to promote Railway related education and research Ministry of Railways has been taking significant steps in setting up Centres of Railway Research (CRR) in collaboration with premier Educational Institutions of India.
• Formal MoUs for setting up such centers have already been signed between Ministry of Railways and University of Mumbai, IIT Kanpur, IIT Madras, IIT Roorkee.
• Another Fifth Center for Railway Research is also in existence in IIT Kharagpur.
• These Centers for Railway Research are working to contribute immensely towards providing solutions for utilization of Railways assets in a more cost effective manner and its various processes towards complete customer satisfaction.

ANSWER: Development of new materials for the railways

Explanation:

• To expand the areas of research, Indian Railways have also set up the Malaviya Chair at IIT BHU, Varanasi for development of proper materials for use by Indian Railways.
• Railways Research arm viz., Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) based at Lucknow is coordinating with all the Centres of Railway Research (CRRs) and chairs.
• Some of the benefits that are likely to accrue out of this research are: lighter railway bogies, improvement in shock absorbers, safer track, etc.
• The departments of IIT (BHU) who would be involved are metallurgy, material science and ceramics, etc.
• The students of department of metallurgy are excited as the department has been chosen for development of an alloy to reduce the weight of the compartment.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:
The assigned areas of the Centres of Railway Research (CRRs) include:

• CRR, IIT Roorkee: Civil Infrastructure of High Speed Rail, Bridges and structures, Track management system, Environmental Engineering, Rail wheel dynamics, etc.
• CRR, IIT Kanpur : Geo-Tech Engineering, Advanced Fuel efficient systems, Fire Safety Management, Advanced electronics, High speed Rolling stock design, Advanced Signalling and Fog vision etc.
• CRR, IIT Madras: Structural Health Monitoring of Railway Infrastructure, Intelligent transportation, Computer vision and imaging, reliability engineering, energy management etc.
• CRR, Mumbai University: Research related to Heavy Haul Technology, High-Speed Technologies, Energy Efficient Traction Power Supply Systems, Track Research, etc. The CRR will in due course also offer degree programme, post graduate programmes and PhD programme in research areas related to Railways and will also involve students in research projects and offer course electives related to Railway technology. Mumbai University’s academic council has recently approved an undergraduate course in Railway Engineering for the current academic year at the Railway Research Centre at their Ratnagiri sub-campus.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:
Legumes/Pulses are -

• Black gram
• Chickpea (Bengal gram)
• Chicking vetch
• Cluster Bean
• Cowpea
• Green Gram
• Horsegram
• Kidney bean
• Lentil
• Peas
• Red gram (Pigion pea)
• Soyabean
• Lupins
• Bambara Groundnut, etc.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• The term "legume" refers to the plants whose fruit is enclosed in a pod. When growing, legumes fix nitrogen into the soil, which reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.
• Well-known legumes include alfalfa, clover, fresh peas, lupins, mesquite, soy and peanuts.
• Pulses are part of the legume family, but the term “pulse” refers only to the dried seed.
• Dried peas, edible beans, lentils and chickpeas are the most common varieties of pulses.
• Pulses are very high in protein and fibre, and are low in fat.
• Like their cousins in the legume family, pulses are nitrogen-fixing crops that improve the environmental sustainability of annual cropping systems.
• The term "pulse", as used by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is reserved for crops harvested solely for the dry seed.
• This excludes green beans and green peas, which are considered vegetable crops. Also excluded are seeds that are mainly grown for oil extraction (oilseeds like soybeans and peanuts), and seeds which are used exclusively for sowing forage (clovers, alfalfa).
• However, in common usage, these distinctions are not always clearly made.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Apart from above NITI Aayog’s functions are:

• To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government
• To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately from economic progress
• To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy
• Feedback for constant innovative improvements
• To mainstream external ideas into Government policies, through collaboration with national and international experts;
• To be the Government’s link to the outside world, outside experts and practitioners;

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Apart from above NITI Aayog’s functions are:

• To maintain a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders
• To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter­ departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.
• To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners.
• To be the instrument through which ideas from outside are incorporated into policy-making

ANSWER: Child Abuse

Explanation:

• An online complaint box for reporting child sexual abuse, the POCSO e-Box was launched by the Ministry for Women and Child Development in New Delhi.
• Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), e-Box, is an online complaint management system for easy and direct reporting of sexual offences against children and timely action against the offenders under the POCSO Act, 2012.
• The idea of an e-Box came out of a police initiative in which physical complaint boxes were placed in schools.
• The e-Box will make it possible to implement it on a large scale throughout the country.
• A large number of incidents of abuse are against close relatives and so they get pushed under the carpet.
• E-Box is very simple to operate and will help to maintain the confidentiality of the complaint.
• The e-Box is incorporated prominently in the home page of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) website http://ncpcr.gov.in/ where a user has to simply push a button named POSCO e-Box.