IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Oct 02, 2016

ANSWER: Conferring sainthood

Explanation:

• Canonization is the act by which the Orthodox, Oriental Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic, or Anglican Church declares that a person who has died was a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints.
• Originally, people were recognized as saints without any formal process.
• Recently, Mother Teresa was Canonized.

ANSWER: New Delhi

Explanation:

• The Indian Diaspora constitutes a significant economic, social and cultural force in the world today.
• To commemorate the trials and tribulations, as well as the subsequent evolution and achievements of the diverse Indian Diaspora, it has been decided to establish a Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
• The Kendra will serve as the focal point of the institutional framework to benefit from networks with and among overseas Indians. Over time, the Kendra is expected to develop into the hub of activities for sustainable, symbiotic and mutually rewarding economic, social and cultural engagement between India and its Diaspora.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Objectives of Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra -

• Symbolise the common aspirations of all members of the Diaspora to maintain their cultural identity and civilizational ethos.
• Be an ideal forum to leverage the skills, knowledge and resources of the Indian Diaspora for accelerating the development process in India.
• Serve as a permanent exhibition illustrating the history of the Diaspora in various parts of the world.
• The Kendra would be developed into a Centre for diaspora studies to run short term courses and orientation programmes for the youth of the India Diaspora.
• The Kendra would lend a strategic dimension to India’s engagement with its diaspora and provide informal channels of communication, which would help in promoting understanding of issues of vital concern to India.

ANSWER: L. M. Singhvi

Explanation:

• A High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora, headed by Shri L. M. Singhvi, had recommended in January 2002 that the Government must renew and strengthen linkages of overseas Indians to their place of origin and with each other.
• The committee recommended that a Pravasi Bharatiya Bhavan should be set up to emerge as the focal point for networking between India and its overseas Indian community; and as a suitable place which would commemorate the trials, tribulations, the evolution and achievements of the Indian Diaspora.

ANSWER: 1901

Explanation:

• The annual meeting of the Indian National Congress was being held in Calcutta under the president ship of Dinshaw Wacha.
• Gandhi attended the session. It was his first contact with the Congress.
• At the Calcutta session in 1901 Gandhi had an opportunity to meet Congress Leaders like Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Lokmanya B. G. Tilak, G. k. Gokhale, and others.
• He returned to South Africa in 1902.

ANSWER: Sabarmati Ashram

Explanation:

• At the end of his wanderings, Gandhi settled down on the bank of the river Sabarmati, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, where he founded an ashram in May 1915.
• He called it the Satyagraha Ashram.
• This was later known as Sabarmati Ashram.

ANSWER: Opening ceremony of the Banaras Hindu University

Explanation:

• Gandhi's first public address in India was on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the Banaras Hindu University in February 1916, which was distinguished by the presence of many magnets and princes and of the Viceroy himself.
• Speaking in English he shocked them all.
• He also passed critical comments on the Princes, as a result many princes walked out.

ANSWER: Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan

Explanation:

• Two commemorative stamps on Swachh Bharat Mission and a miniature sheet were released.
• The denominations of the postage stamps is Rs 25 and Rs 5

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have become the first States in the country with all cities and towns of these states declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).
• 405 cities and towns have so far claimed to have become Open Defecation Free along with 20,000 of the 82,000 urban wards in the country. Another 334 cities and towns would become ODF by March next year.
• Maharashtra, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and other North-Eastern States are on course to declare all urban areas as ODF soon.

ANSWER: Abuja

Explanation:

• Capital of Nigeria is Abuja.
• Recently the Vice-President has visited Nigeria and Mali in African continent.
• Nigeria is not only India’s biggest trading partner in the region, but India was its largest trading partner overall.
• A lot of IT professionals are also being trained in India.
• Nigeria provides crude oil to India.
• Nigeria is very productive and there were some new areas like renewable energy, solar alliance, infrastructure development, agriculture, manufacturing, health, science and technology identified for mutual cooperation.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• The Defence Accounts Department traces back its history to 1747 where the first Pay Master was appointed for paying the Garrison at Fort Williams, Kolkata.
• The Department was re-designated as Defence Accounts Department from Military Accounts Department in 1951.
• It is one of the oldest departments of India.

ANSWER: Marrakech

Explanation:

• The 22nd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UNFCCC is scheduled to take place from 7-18 November 2016.
• It will be held at Marrakesh, Marrakech, Morocco.
• During COP 22, parties will, inter alia, begin preparations for entry into force of the Paris Agreement.
• Marrakesh will also see the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12).

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
Following will be the key priorities:

• Enhancing Ambition and promoting action between 2016-2020 - Paris Agreement is for post-2020 period. Currently, we are operating under the pre-2020 action framework and must not wait any further to take action. The developed countries should ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. At Morocco, we must agree to set up an action roadmap for 2016-2020 for raising ambition and achieving pre-2020 goals.
• Mobilising means of implementation i.e. finance, technology and capacity-building support before and after 2020 - USD 11 billion per year climate finance goal has not been met. At Morocco, India will insist for a concrete roadmap from developed countries. USD 10.3 billion committed to the Green Climate Fund does not match the enormous finance and technology requirements indicated by developing countries in their INDCs. The new Technology Framework under the Paris Agreement should help to remove barriers to technology access and provide finance for meeting higher technological costs.
• Furthering the cause of Adaption and loss and damage - India is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The first review of the loss and damage mechanism at COP 22 is an opportunity for India to ensure that this mechanism provides tangible and concrete solutions. Most important of these would be to ensure that there are tools to address adaptation, financial risk management and finance needs for dealing with extreme and slow onset events.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:
Following will be the key priorities:

• Detailing rule and modalities under Paris Agreement - Paris Agreement has laid a broad framework, but guidelines and rules need to be detailed for the Agreement to be operational. Pending task such as modalities for market mechanism, transparency arrangements, features of NDCs, facilitative dialogue, must be expedited, starting from Morocco COP. Several new bodies such as the Paris Committee on capacity-building, the Technology Framework etc must also be ready before 2020.
• Furthering the agenda on sustainable lifestyles and climate justice - it is important that apart from emission cuts, we also focus on measures that involve broader participation. People in developed countries live extravagant lifestyles with high carbon footprint. Simple everyday changes in lifestyles, when practiced by a large number of people around the globe, collectively will make a huge impact. The power of choices that each one of us makes every day like the food we eat, the way we travel, the things we buy etc. are not realised. India has made a commitment in its INDC, on sustainable lifestyles and will continue to push this agenda forward in Morocco.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• At onset there is fever, headache, bodyache, cough and gastrointestinal symptoms.
• Patients with a mild infection may recover without any other symptoms. However, roughly every second patient develops a visible black scab at the point of the bite, with a swelling of the lymph nodes.
• Severe cases typically include encephalitis and interstitial pneumonia due to vascular injury. The fatality rate is 7%.
• Sores caused by the mite’s bites are usually one of the distinguishing features of the disease, crucial for clinical diagnosis.
• Similarities in presentation with chikungunya often confound the diagnosis.
• Like in dengue and chikungunya, the commonest — and cheaper — diagnostic tests involve looking for the antibodies to the parasite rather than the parasite itself in the bloodstream.
• An indirect immunoperoxidase test or a dot immunoassay or tests for detection of IgM and IgG fall under this category. The failsafe test is the expensive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.