IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Nov 26, 2015

ANSWER: None

Explanation:
- AYUSH Gram is Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM).
- It is implemented by Ministry of AYUSH.
- Government of India has made the provision for the establishment of AYUSH GRAM under National Ayush Mission
- One village per block is selected for adoption of method and practice of AYUSH as a lifestyle and healthcare intervention
- In AYUSH villages, AYUSH based lifestyles are aimed at behavioural change communication, training of village health workers for locating use of local medicinal herbs and provision of AYUSH health serves
- Grant in aid of INR 215.15 lakhs has been offered to State/UT governments during the period 2014-2015 for setting up the AYUSH Gram under NAM

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:
- The Northern Hemisphere (Arctic) vortex often contains two low pressure centers, one near Baffin Island, Canada and the other over northeast Siberia.
- Within the Antarctic vortex in the Southern Hemisphere a single low pressure zone tends to be located near the edge of the Ross ice shelf near 160 west longitude.
- When the polar vortex is strong, the Westerlies increase in strength. When the polar cyclone is weak, the general flow pattern across mid-latitudes buckles and significant cold outbreaks occur.
- Ozone depletion occurs within the polar vortices – particularly over the Southern Hemisphere – reaching a maximum depletion in the spring.
- The chemistry of the Antarctic polar vortex has created severe ozone depletion. The nitric acid in polar stratospheric clouds reacts with chlorofluorocarbons to form chlorine, which catalyzes the photochemical destruction of ozone.

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
Apart from only dispensing drugs, pharmacists must also offer services like counseling to patients, reporting of adverse drug reactions, primary care to all uncomplicated simple illnesses and for this purpose, a separate cell must be arranged for within the pharmacy itself.

ANSWER: Mizoram

Explanation:
- 28% of area and 66% of growing stock of bamboo in NE region
- 20% of area and 12% of growing stock in MP & Chattisgarh
- India is the second richest country in bamboo genetic resources after China.
- Bamboos are aptly called the poor man’s timber and are found in great abundance.

ANSWER: Colombo

Explanation:
- The Secretariat consists of the Director General and professional, administrative and supporting staff.
- The secretariat is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka and is under the patronage of the Sri Lankan Government.
- The South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, also known as - SACEP, is an inter-governmental organisation established in 1982 by the South Asian governments to promote and support protection, management and enhancement of the environment in the region.
- SACEP member countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

ANSWER: Kathmandu

Explanation:
- The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge sharing centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas.
- ICIMOD serves eight regional member countries (RMCs) of the Hindu Kush Himalayan region – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – and the global mountain community.
- Founded in 1983, ICIMOD is based in Kathmandu, Nepal, and brings together a partnership of its regional member countries, partner institutions, and donors with a commitment for development action to secure a better future for the people and environment of the extended Himalayan region.

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
- Kiribati is an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean.
- The nation comprises 33 atolls and reef islands and one raised coral island, Banaba.
- Their spread straddles the equator and the International Date Line, although the Date Line is indented to bring the Line Islands in the same day as the Kiribati Islands.
- Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979. The capital and now most populated area, South Tarawa, consists of a number of islets, connected by a series of causeways.
- These comprise about half the area of Tarawa Atoll. Kiribati is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999.

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
- Mangroves are plants that survive high salinity, tidal regimes, strong wind velocity, high temperature and muddy anaerobic soil- a combination of conditions hostile for other plants.
- Mangrove ecosystem constitutes a symbiotic link or bridge between terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
- They are found in the inter-tidal zones of sheltered shores, estuaries, creeks, backwaters, lagoons, marshes and mudflats.

ANSWER: None

Explanation:
- The People's Republic of China is developing its own SBAS, called Satellite Navigation Augmentation System (SNAS).
- The MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS) is the Japanese Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) System
- The System for Differential Corrections and Monitoring (SDCM) is the SBAS currently being developed in the Russian Federation as a component of GLONASS.
- The Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) is the United States Satellite Based Augmentation System.

ANSWER: None

Explanation:
- Private sector banks are only under RBI supervision. They don’t fall under purview of CVC-CAG-RTI.
- While public sector banks are also answerable to RTI, CVC and CAG, apart from RBI.
- Vijaya bank is a public sector bank.

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
- Dhanush is a variant of the surface-to-surface/ship-to-ship Prithvi III missile, which has been developed for the Indian Navy.
- It is capable of carrying both conventional as well as nuclear warheads with pay-load capacity of 500 kg and can strike targets in the range of 350 km.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:
- Government has increased annual allocation to the states by Rs 5,000 crore.
- It is under the authority of the Ministry of Rural Development.
PMGSY was launched in year 2000 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with the objective to provide single all-weather road connectivity to all eligible unconnected rural habitations.
- Under PMGSY-I, 1,78,184 unconnected habitations were identified. In 15 years of implementation so far, 1,12,550 habitations, which is 63 per cent of the target have been connected with PMGSY roads. 
- The States are yet to complete the roads to provide connectivity to about 37 per cent of habitations as per the mandate of the scheme.

ANSWER: Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change

Explanation:
The Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change is in charge of the overall implementation of the plan.

Eight missions under National action plan on Climate change:

1. National Solar Mission
2. National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency
3. National Mission on Sustainable Habitat
4. National Water Mission
5. National Mission for a “Green India”
6. National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture
7. National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
8. National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:
- The Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean.
- It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum.
- In 1999, the name was changed; Pacific Islands Forum is more inclusive of the Forum's Oceania-spanning membership of both north and south Pacific island countries, including Australia.
- It is an official observer at the United Nations.

ANSWER: Pacific Islands Forum

Explanation:
- The Biketawa Declaration is a declaration agreed to by all the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum constituting a framework for coordinating response to regional crises.
- The declaration was agreed to at the 31st Summit of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, held at Kiribati in October 2000 in the regional context of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état and ethnic tensions in the Solomon Islands.
- The Biketawa Declaration has led to military and police forces as well as civilian personnel of Forum states, chiefly Australia and New Zealand, participating in regional peacekeeping and stabilization operations in Solomon Islands , Nauru and Tonga.
- The Biketawa Declaration takes its name from the Kiribati islet of Biketawa.