IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Sep 01, 2016

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• The scheme is applicable only for the pregnant women.
• The free checkup will take place on 9th of every month.
• All kinds of medical checkups under this scheme will be entirely free.
• Tests will take place at the medical centres, government and private hospitals and private clinics across the country.
• Women will be marked differently based on their health problems so that doctors can quickly detect the problem.
• The government of India offers all types of medical support to the pregnant women for totally free of cost under this Yojana.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• The scheme is applicable only to the women in their pregnancy period of 3 to 6 months.
• It doesn’t provide delivery support or free institutional delivery.
• The women who are not from urban areas and belong to semi urban, poor and rural areas will be given preferences under the Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan.
• Various stickers will denote the problems associated with pregnant women for easy detection.

Some of the main objectives of the scheme -

• Provide a healthy life to the pregnant women.
• Lowering the maternity mortality rate.
• Making pregnant women aware of their health issues/diseases.
• Making sure safe delivery and healthy life of the baby

ANSWER: Delivery of holy water of Ganga till doorsteps

Explanation:

• Gangajal delivey scheme has been launched by the Government from Patna in Bihar. It is a new initiative of the central government to deliver “Gangajal” to doorstep through Indian Postal Services.
• Under the Gangajal Delivery Scheme, any person can get the pious Gangajal delivered to the doorstep at nominal prices. The Gangajal will be brought from Gangotri and Rishikesh.
• The holy water can also be ordered through some e-commerce website at a price of Rs. 299 for a litre of bottle sources from Gomukh.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Parivahan Yojana (PMGPY), the central government will provide10-12 seater commercial passenger vehicles to retired defence personnel and women self-help groups.
• These will be provided at subsidized rate.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• The central government is planning to launch a new scheme to provide commercial passenger vehicles in rural areas at subsidized rates.
• To be named as “Pradhan Mantri Gram Parivahan Yojana“, the scheme has been proposed to create a better transport system in the rural areas across the country.
• Under this, the central government will provide 10-12 seater commercial passenger vehicles to retired defence personnel and women self-help groups.
• The scheme will supplement the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana which was launched to improve road conditions in the villages. The development of roads in villages has been done at a decent pace but the public transport is missing from these roads.
• A survey has already been conducted by the government in rural areas of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh with promising result.

ANSWER: Madhya Pradesh

Explanation:

• Ministry of Tourism is organising the “BRICS Convention on Tourism” on September 01-02, 2016 in Khajuraho Madhya Pradesh as a precursor to the The BRICS Summit to be held in Goa on October 15-16, 2016.
• The two day event will comprise of inter- Governmental exchange of views and ideas, Panel discussions on Technology, Innovation in Tourism, and Cooperation between the BRICS countries for promoting intra-regional tourism.
• Elements of Culture, handicrafts and cuisine from different regions of India will be showcased during the convention.
• Panel discussions on the topics, “Cooperation among the BRICS countries for promotion of Tourism” and “Technology, Innovation in Tourism: Adapting to change” has been organised.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• As per the Protocol for third party verification and certification of ODF status- each Ward and City first self-declares as ODF and on intimation of the same by the respective Urban Local Body or State, the Ministry gets such claims verified in 30 days based on assessment of service level status (construction and availability of household, community and public toilets) and independent observations by the third party.
• For each Zone in a city/town, a minimum of five places will be inspected i.e a slum, school, public area like market or religious place, residential area and bus stand/railway station.
• For a city with a population of less than five lakhs, a minimum of 9 places shall be inspected and 17 places for a city with more than five lakh population.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• The Government has already constituted the “National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSrC)” by renaming of the “National Council for Older Persons (NCOP)”.
• The NCSrC will meet at least twice a year.
• The mandate of the National Council of Senior Citizens is to advise the Central and State Governments on the entire gamut of issues related to the welfare of senior citizens and enhancement of their quality of life, with special reference to the following:-

i. Policies, programmes and legislative measures;
ii. Promotion of physical and financial security, health and independent and productive living; and
iii. Awareness generation and community mobilization.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• An autonomous National Council for Senior Citizens headed by the Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment was set up to promote and co-ordinate the concerns of older persons.
• The Council includes representatives of relevant Central Ministries and the Planning Commission.
• Five States are represented on the Council by rotation.
• Adequate representation is given to non-official members representing Non-Government Organisations, Academic bodies, Media and Experts on Ageing issues from different fields.

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• In rural areas, 66% of elderly men and 28% of elderly women were working, while in urban areas only 46% of elderly men and about 11% of elderly women were working.
• The percent of literates among elderly persons increased from 27% in 1991 to 44% in 2011.
• The literacy rate among elderly females (28%) is less than half of the literacy rate among elderly males (59%).
• Prevalence of heart diseases among elderly population was much higher in urban areas than in rural parts.
• According to Population Census 2011 there are nearly 104 million elderly persons (aged 60 years or above) in India; 53 million females and 51 million males.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• Fly ash includes substantial amounts of oxides of silica, aluminum and calcium.
• Element like Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, lead etc. are also found in trace concentrations.
• It, thus, poses hazards to environment and health.
• However, at the same time due to the presence of these minerals fly ash has certain unique properties.
• It can be used as a construction material, filling old mines, building railway embankments, and reclamation of low-lying areas.
• New and innovative uses are also taking place- especially initiated by power companies like NTPC in collaboration with Institutes like IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur e.g. Manufacture of pre-stressed railway concrete sleepers.
• Recently Maharashtra government has decided to come up with an export policy for fly ash in the light of demand from places like Singapore and Dubai.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up jointly by the Government of India and the Indian Industry represented by the three premier industry associations i.e. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), to establish and operate national accreditation structure and promote quality through National Quality Campaign. QCI is registered as a non-profit society with its own Memorandum of Association.
• It has been tasked to provide third party evaluation of Open Defecation Free (ODF) claims of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• As per the Protocol for third party verification and certification of ODF status- each Ward and City first self-declares as ODF and on intimation of the same by the respective Urban Local Body or State, the Ministry gets such claims verified in 30 days based on assessment of service level status (construction and availability of household, community and public toilets) and independent observations by the third party.
• A Ward or City can be notified/declared as ODF if, at any point of the day, not a single person is found to be defecating in the open.
• Quality Council of India has been tasked to substantiate Open Defecation Free (ODF) claims of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).