IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - May 04, 2016

ANSWER: Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture

Explanation:

• The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India under the scheme Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture promotes greenhouse technologies under the component ‘protected cultivation’.
• Assistance to the extent of 50% is provided to the farmers for establishment of various types of greenhouses upto 4000 sq. mts. per beneficiary.
• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has standardized low cost net and poly houses for cultivation of important high value vegetable crops like green and coloured capsicum, english cucumber, bottle gourd, brinjal and tomato which are being disseminated to the farming community.
• These protected structures are good for off-season production, help in improvement of yield by 65-80%, improve quality and protect from insects and diseases.

ANSWER: 71 years

Explanation:

• The projected levels of expectation of life at birth for male are 68.8 years and that of female is 71.1 years for period 2016-20.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• At present, FDI is permitted in technology collaboration in any form, including licensing for franchise, trademark, brand name and management contract in the tobacco sector.
• However, it is prohibited in manufacturing of cigars, cigarettes of tobacco and tobacco substitutes.
• After making it mandatory to carry larger pictorial warnings on cigarette packets, the government is now working on a proposal to completely ban foreign direct investment (FDI) in the tobacco sector.
• The move also assumes significance as India is signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, under which it has the responsibility of reducing consumption of tobacco products.

ANSWER: Protect investments made by an investor

Explanation:

• BITs protect investments made by an investor of one country into another by regulating the host nation’s treatment of the investment.
• In Budget, a proposal which has gone unnoticed, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley mooted the idea of a Centre-State investment agreement to be signed between the Centre and various State governments to ensure effective implementation of BITs or bilateral investment treaties.
• This will ensure fulfilment of the obligations of the State government under these treaties. States which opt to sign these Agreements will be seen as more attractive destinations by foreign investors.
• It is believed that the Centre will not make it mandatory for States to sign the agreement, but if any State chooses not to, this will be informed to India’s BIT partner.

ANSWER: 1961

Explanation:

• India had first started publishing its income tax statistics in 1961.
• Detailed income tax data is now available as the Central Board of Direct Taxes has made public information on the total number of taxpayers in the country, income disclosed in IT returns by various category of taxpayers etc.
• India resumed publishing its income tax data, which was suspended in 2000 owing to staffing and technical issues.

ANSWER: Oil and natural gas

Explanation:

• India is looking to explore and develop Papua New Guinea’s vast oil and gas resources through joint ventures and investments from both the Indian private and public sectors in on-going and new projects.
• The Pacific island country agreed that oil and gas exploration and development could be a new avenue of cooperation between the two countries, keeping in view India’s desire to achieve energy security.
• Indian companies are looking at projects coming up in Papua New Guinea after natural gas was discovered in the country’ s Southern Highland Province. Gas discoveries elsewhere in the country have evoked interest among Indian companies.

ANSWER: 1, 3

Explanation:

• India agreed to provide a line of credit of $100 million to Papua New Guinea for infrastructure projects and signed a pact to set up a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in information technology.
• Four memorandums of understanding were signed on the second and final day of President Mukherjee’s visit, the first state visit by an Indian head of state to the island nation.
• Papua New Guinea reiterated its support for India’s claim for permanent membership in the UN Security Council and agreed to expedite a proposed Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) to facilitate investments. It announced visa-on-arrival facility for Indian tourists.
• Apart from MoUs on extending a line of credit and information technology, other agreements related to cooperation on agricultural research and health were also signed
• Mr. Mukherjee announced that India would provide anti-retroviral drugs and equipment to benefit 20,000 HIV positive patients in Papua New Guinea, a figure that would help at least half the number of those suffering from the disease.
• The President said India would assist capacity-building and human resource development, besides offering to share its advanced techniques and technologies in the agriculture sector.

ANSWER: Gujarat

Explanation:

• Gujarat saw the fastest growth in its direct tax collections, growing 185 per cent.
• Tamil Nadu saw the next-fastest growth in the period, with its direct tax collections growing 116 per cent.
• Direct taxes are a consequence of income earned, unlike indirect taxes.
• Corporate taxes contribute the bulk of the growth in direct tax collections.

ANSWER: To grant construction permission near monuments

Explanation:

• Architects and real estate developers who plan to construct buildings close to national monuments can soon download a new mobile app named Smarac Citizen, which will grant them construction permits within a few minutes.
• Based on a proposal from the National Monuments Authority (NMA), the app has been developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), containing the maps of 3,686 Centrally-protected monuments across the country.
• Earlier, the NMA had to send teams to the areas close to historic monuments, where developers sought construction permits.
• The teams had to ensure that permits were granted only to projects beyond 300 metres from the outer boundary of a monument.
• Apart from easing the process of obtaining construction permits, the app will help the NMA keep a tab on encroachments around monuments.
• The app will tell you how far new constructions are from any particular protected monument.
• It will also give the elevation — the height of the site with respect to mean sea level. It will help architects not only for the NMA approval, but also for the approval of the Airports Authority of India.