IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Oct 06, 2016

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• The General Council of the Akademi also selected forty-three (43) artists from the field of Music, Dance, Theatre, Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry and Overall contribution/scholarship in Performing Arts for the Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) for the year 2015. These forty-three (43) artists include two joint awards.

In the field of Music, eleven eminent artists were selected


• Krishna Bisht and Mashkoor Ali Khan for Hindustani Vocal Music,
• Kartik Kumar for Hindustani Instrumental Music–Sitar,
• Brij Narayan for Hindustani Instrumental Music–Sarod,
• R N Thyagarajan and R N Tharanathan (joint award) for Carnatic Vocal Music,
• Suguna Varadhachari for Carnatic Vocal Music,
• Lalgudi G J R Krishnan for Carnatic Instrumental Music–Violin,
• Mambalam M K S Siva for Carnatic Instrumental Music-Nagaswaram,
• Bhupinder Singh, Hridyanath Mangeshkar and Prafulla Kar for Other Major Traditions of Music–Sugam Sangeet

ANSWER: A Musical Instrument

Explanation:

• The nadaswaram, nagaswaram, nadhaswaram or nathaswaram, is a double reed wind instrument. It is a traditional classical instrument originated in Tamil Nadu and also used in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala (India).
• This instrument is "among the world's loudest non-brass acoustic instruments".
• It is a wind instrument similar to the North Indian shehnai but much longer, with a hardwood body and a large flaring bell made of wood or metal.
• In Tamil culture, the nadaswaram is considered to be very auspicious, and it is a key musical instrument played in almost all Hindu weddings and temples of the South Indian tradition.
• Nadaswaram is referred in many ancient Tamil texts. Silappatikaram refers to an instrument called "vangiyam". The structure of this instrument matches that of Nadaswaram. Since there are seven holes played with seven fingers this was also called as "Ezhil".

ANSWER: 2, 3

Explanation:
Akademi Award was instituted in 1952.
In the field of Dance, nine eminent artists have been selected for the Akademi Awards 2015

• Ranganayaki Jayaraman for Bharatanatyam,
• K Kunhiraman Nair for Kathakali,
• G Padmaja Reddy for Kuchipudi,
• Aloka Kanungo for Odissi,
• Sharodi Saikia for Sattriya Dance,
• Mandakini Trivedi for Mohiniattam,
• Sadashiva Pradhan for Chhau Dance,
• W Lokendrajit Singh for Contemporary/Experimental Dance and
• Rajkumar Bharathi for Music for Dance.

ANSWER: 1, 3

Explanation:
The honour of Akademi Award is being honoured since 1952. These honours not only symbolize the highest standard of excellence and achievements, but also recognize sustained individual work and contribution. The honour of Akademi Award carries purse money of Rs 1, 00,000/- besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.

In the field of Theatre, nine eminent artists have been selected for Akademi Awards 2015

• Nand Kishore Acharya and Shafaat Khan for Playwriting,
• Parvez Akhtar and Mushtaq Kak for Direction,
• Manoj N Joshi and Himani Shivpuri for Acting,
• Pradeep Mulye for Allied Theatre Arts–Scenic Design,
• Sarojini Nangiar for Other Major Traditions of Theatre–Kutiyattam and
• Rani Balbir Kaur for Overall Contribution in Theatre.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:
In the field of Traditional/Folk/Tribal Music/Dance/Theatre and Puppetry, ten artistes have been selected for Akademi Awards 2015.

• Khuman Lal Sao (Folk Music of Chhattisgarh),
• Ramchandra Singh (Folk Theatre of Bihar),
• Khem Raj (Folk Music of Jammu and Kashmir),
• S R D Prasad (Martial Art of Kerala),
• Chhaya and Maya Khutegaonkar (joint award for Folk Dance of Maharashtra-Lavani),
• Gangmei Aluna Kabuini (Traditional Dance and Music of Manipur),
• Paramjit Singh Sidhu (Folk Music of Punjab),
• Sayeed Sabri Jaipuri (Qawwali, Rajasthan),
• K K Ramachandra Pulavar and T N Sankaranathan for Puppetry.

ANSWER: C V Chandrasekhar

Explanation:

• The General Council of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, New Delhi at its meeting held in Agartala (Tripura) elected one (1) eminent personality in the field of performing arts, namely Shri C V Chandrasekhar as Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellow (Akademi Ratna).
• The Fellowship of the Akademi is the most prestigious and rare honour, which is restricted to 40 numbers at any given time. Presently there are only 40 Fellows of the Sangeet Natak Akademi.
• The honour of Akademi Fellow has been conferred since 1954. These honours not only symbolize the highest standard of excellence and achievements, but also recognize sustained individual work and contribution. The honour of Akademi Fellow carries a purse money of Rs 3,00,000/- (Rupees three lakh) besides a Tamrapatra and Angavastram.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• As key operational areas, the BRICS member states will focus on employment generation, formalization of labour markets and social protection.
• In promoting inclusion and greater equality in the labour market, a top priority for BRICS member states is the generation of adequate decent and productive job opportunities, fair wages and adequate social protection systems for all, including floors.
• This, will in turn help in tackling poverty and lead to sustainable growth.

ANSWER: 1, 3

Explanation:

• Informality in the labour market remains a big challenge for all BRICS member states.
• Informality is often linked to low income jobs, lack of social protection and insufficient access to basic services.
• Recognizing the multiple issues in our national labour markets context, BRICS is committed to tackling both the existing as well as emerging forms of informality.
• Consistent with the objectives of the ILO Recommendation No.204, BRICS aims at improving the livelihood of workers engaged in the informal economy and facilitating their transition to the formal economy, while at the same time enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises.
• BRICS encourages the adoption of measures to enhance employability of workers in the informal economy through expanding social security, skilling and re-skilling of the workforce and adopting amongst others of a regulatory environment, which promotes formalization through easier compliance and adequate safeguards for labour rights.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• BRICS supports designing and implementation of comprehensive social security systems that are effective, equitable, and economically sustainable and address the needs of the society.
• BRICS therefore endorses the portability of social security benefits for migrant workers, encourage bi-lateral social security agreements amongst the BRICS member states and work towards developing a general framework for cooperation.
• BRICS is committed to take steps to establish a network of lead labour research and training institutions in BRICS member states for undertaking joint research and training activities, capacity building of various stakeholders and exchange of information in areas of expertise, with the cooperation of international organizations in particular the ILO.

ANSWER: Bridges

Explanation:

• A major step was taken towards ensuring safety of bridges in the country, when the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways formally launched the Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS).
• IBMS is being developed to create an inventory of all bridges in the country and rate their structural condition so that timely repair and rehabilitation work can be carried out based on the criticality of the structure.
• IBMS is the largest platform in the world owned by a single owner, with database that could exceed 1, 50,000 bridge structures.
• So far 1, 15,000 bridges have been inventoried, of which 85,000 are culverts and the rest are bridges.