IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Sep 05 & 06, 2016

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, ground transportation fuel, and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products.
• It offers an alternative to the proposed hydrogen economy or ethanol economy.
• In the 1990s, Nobel prize winner George A. Olah advocated a methanol economy.
• Methanol can be produced from a wide variety of sources including still-abundant fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, oil shale, tar sands, etc.), but also agricultural products and municipal waste, wood and varied biomass.
• It can also be made from chemical recycling of carbon dioxide.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• Methanol is a fuel for heat engines and fuel cells. Due to its high octane rating it can be used directly as a fuel in flex-fuel cars (including hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles) using existing internal combustion engines (ICE).
• In an economy based on methanol, methanol could be used as a fuel for internal combustion engines (ICEs); electricity generation; compression ignition engines (diesel engine); advanced methanol-powered vehicles; domestic fuel, etc.
• Methanol is already used today on a large scale as raw material to produce a variety of chemicals and products.
• Through the methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) process, it can be transformed into gasoline.
• Using the methanol-to-olefin (MTO) process, methanol can also be converted to ethylene and propylene, the two chemicals produced in largest amounts by the petrochemical industry.

ANSWER: India

Explanation:

• The Kannada Movie “Thithi” from India was awarded the Best Film from the Jury members, while the Special Jury was awarded for the movie “Between Valleys” from Brazil.
• Mr. Huo Jianqi from China was awarded the Best Director award for the Movie, “Xuan Chang”.
• Mr. Thabo Rametsi from South Africa was awarded the Best Actor (Male) award for his acting in the movie “Kalushi (The story of Solomon Mahlangu)” and Ms. Yulia Peresild from Russia was awarded the Best Actor (Female) award for her role in the movie “Battle for Sevastopol”.
• The jury also recommended Special Mention awards to the Movie “Songs of the Phoenix” from China and the movie “14+” from Russia.

ANSWER: Financing Start-ups

Explanation:

• NIDHI (National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations), an umbrella program is pioneered by the Department of Science & Technology(DST), Government of India, for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups.
• NIDHI focuses on building a seamless and innovation driven entrepreneurial ecosystem especially by channelizing youth towards it.
• NIDHI, by design connects and strengthens all the links of the innovation chain from scouting to sustaining to securing to scaling to showcasing.
• The key stakeholders of NIDHI includes various departments and ministries of the central government, state governments, academic and R & D institutions, mentors, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists, industry champions and private sectors.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• There are 8 components of NIDHI that support each stage of a budding startup from idea to market.
• The first component PRAYAS (Promoting and Accelerating Young and Aspiring Innovators & Startups), launched on 2nd September, 2016, aims to support innovators to build prototypes of their ideas by providing a grant up to Rs.10 lakhs and an access to Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab).
• The final component is the Seed Support System which provides up to One Crore rupees per start-up and is implemented through Technology Business Incubators.
• During the current financial year with a view to drive the innovation and startup centric new initiatives in a scaled up manner for its wider outreach across the country, a 450% increase in allocation (Rs. 180 crores) has been made in the Department’s budget.

ANSWER: #Gas4India

Explanation:

• The Union Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas launched #Gas4India campaign, aimed at promoting the use of gas in the country.
• Public and private sector companies working in the sector have joined hands to promote the natural gas sector.
• #Gas4India is a unified cross-country, multimedia, multi-event campaign to communicate the national, social, economic and ecological benefits of using natural gas as the fuel of choice to every citizen who uses, or will use in the near future, gas in any way- cook, travel, light their homes, and power their business.
• The country is moving towards the gas-based economy, and the government is working to increase the share of gas in the country’s energy basket from the present 6.5%.
• The Government is promoting nationwide gas grid and setting up gas infrastructure.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• ESIC has launched an ambitious Pilot Project of Tele-Medicine Services at 11 ESI locations in coordination with C-DAC, Mohali under the aegis of “Digital Inclusive and Smart Community (DISC)” which is a part of Digital India Programmed of Government of India.
• In all, three specialized ESIC Hospitals will be connected with eight ESI Dispensaries at remote locations of the country where there are no specialized ESI healthcare services available.
• In first phase, Employees State Insurance Corporation’s(ESIC) Model Hospital Basaidarapur, new Delhi has been connected with three ESIS dispensaries at Katihar (Bihar), Unnao (UP) and Rudarpur (Uttrachal).
• In second and third phase rest of the two Hospitals and five Dispensaries will be connected by month end thereby providing specialized health care services at the doorsteps of the IPs and their family members.
• These include hospital at Rajaji Nagar in Bengaluru to be connected to dispensaries at Korba and Khursipar Bhilai,in Chhattisgarh. The other hospital Joka in Kolkatta to beconnected to dispnsiries at Shillong, Agartala and Andaman & Nicobar.

ANSWER: New Delhi

Explanation:

• The CAG’s Centre for Data Management and Analytics (CDMA) is going to play a catalytic role to synthesise and integrate relevant data into auditing process.
• The CDMA will help to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of evidence in the audit process.
• CDMA aims to build up capacity in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department in Big Data Analytics to exploit the data rich environment in the Union and State Governments.
• The Centre is to be equipped with latest analytic tools and infrastructure to assist and guide the Data Analytic Groups constituted in all audit offices of CAG across the country through setting up the data management protocols and steering the data analytic capacity of the department.
• CAG of India is also a member of an international project on ‘Data Analytics’ under the Working Group on IT Audit of International Organisation for Supreme Audit Institutions.

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• The biggest Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC) in the country was launched across 149 districts of 19 states/UTs. The districts having a prevalence rate of more than one case per 10,000 population in any of the last three years have been included in this campaign.
• The Leprosy Case Detection Campaign is a unique initiative of its kind in the world where each and every member of the targeted population will be examined by the search team constituted of one male and one female volunteer at household level.
• House to house visits will be done by the search team as per the micro plan prepared for the local area to detect hidden and undetected leprosy cases.
• The objective of the campaign is the early detection of leprosy in affected persons so that they can be saved from physical disability and deformity by providing them timely treatment and thus also halting the transmission of disease at the community level.

ANSWER: GPS enabled device

Explanation:

• Following frequent instances of fishing crews from Maharashtra and Gujarat being arrested for accidentally crossing international maritime boundaries, a Mumbai-based digital firm and an NGO have come up with a device that will send out an alert when they enter international waters.
• To help these fishermen, a Mumbai-based NGO ‘Work in India’ and a digital firm Kinetic India and have come up with a device called Mukhota.
• The Mukhota is GPS-enabled and coded in such a way that once it comes near the coastal border, it sends out an alert.
• For now, each device costs Rs 5,000 but after receiving grants from state governments, the cost will be reduced to make it more easily affordable.