IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Sep 30, 2016

ANSWER: Doing work inferior to one’s capacity and qualification

Explanation:

• Underemployment refers to a job that is insufficient in some important way for a worker, relative to a standard, which results in the under-utilization of the worker.
• Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and over qualification, where the employee has education, experience, or skills beyond the requirements of the job.
• It means under-utilization of labour which is missed by most official (governmental agency) definitions and measurements of unemployment.
• This is an important factor to consider since there is skill development drive going on in India. There must be enough jobs to cater to skilled workforce.

ANSWER: Person is willing to work at the current wage yet is unemployed

Explanation:

• Involuntary unemployment occurs when a person is willing to work at the prevailing wage yet is unemployed
• Involuntary unemployment is distinguished from voluntary unemployment, where workers choose not to work because their reservation wage is higher than the prevailing wage.
• In an economy with involuntary unemployment there is a surplus of labor at the current real wage.

ANSWER: Sickle Cell

Explanation:

• Sickle Cell Anemia is a serious condition in which the red blood cells can become sickle-shaped (that is, shaped like a "C").
• Normal red blood cells are smooth and round like a doughnut without a hole. They move easily through blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body.
• Sickle-shaped cells do not move easily through blood vessels; they are stiff and sticky, and tend to form clumps and get stuck in blood vessels. The clumps of sickle cells block blood flow in the blood vessels to the limbs and organs. Blocked blood vessels can cause pain, serious infections and organ damage.
• As per Sickle Cell Disease Control Program under NRHM, colour coded cards are distributed to patients (Red-Sufferer, Yellow-Carrier, White-Negative).

ANSWER: Granted for meeting an unexpected demand upon the resources of India

Explanation:

• Excess Grant - It is granted when money has been spent on any service during a financial year in excess of the amount granted for that service in the budget for that year. It is voted by the Lok Sabha after the financial year. Before the demands for excess grants are submitted to the Lok Sabha for voting, they must be approved by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament.
• Vote of Credit - It is granted for meeting an unexpected demand upon the resources of India, when on account of the magnitude or the indefinite character of the service, the demand cannot be stated with the details ordinarily given in a budget. Hence, it is like a blank cheque given to the Executive by the Lok Sabha.
• Exceptional Grant - It is granted for a special purpose and forms no part of the current service of any financial year.

ANSWER: Token grant

Explanation:

• Token Grant - It is granted when funds to meet the proposed expenditure on a new service can be made available by reappropriation.
• A demand for the grant of a token sum (of Re 1) is submitted to the vote of the Lok Sabha and if assented, funds are made available.
• Reappropriation involves transfer of funds from one head to another. It does not involve any additional expenditure.

ANSWER: Parasite

Explanation:

• Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus because the mites (Leptotrombidium deliense, commonly known as trombiculid mite) that cause it resides in vegetation predominantly comprising small shrubs, is an infectious disease with symptoms similar to any viral fever.
• However, it is not caused by a virus, but by a parasite called Orientia tsutsugamushi, which is transmitted by the bite of infected mite larvae in soil containing scrub vegetation.
• The disease is more common during the wet season when the mites lay eggs.

ANSWER: Himachal Pradesh

Explanation:

• Himachal Pradesh is one of the endemic areas for the disease — it is also endemic in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, northern Australia, the Arabian peninsula and Japan. It is an occupational disease frequently found in people who work in the fields and are in the habit of gardening.
• In Himachal Pradesh, the disease spreads most commonly during grass cutting operations in the orchards, and is alleged to have taken a serious turn this year due to laxity in controlling the mite.