Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

GSAT 31 is India’s 40^th Communication Satellite that has been launched from French Guiana by European launch services provider- Arianespace’s rocket. It weighs nearly 2535 kg and has a mission life of 15 years. It will augment the Ku band Transponders in geostationary orbits. It will support VSAT Networks, DTH, ATMs and Television uplinks and e-governance applications. The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of emerging telecommunication applications.

Source: TH

Explanation :

• The natural habitat of Lion Tailed Macaque are the Western Ghats thus it can be foundin the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka (these states are parts of the Western Ghats region). Andhra Pradesh, Odisha does not form a part of Western Ghats, hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• Lion Tailed Macaque is listed as ‘Endangered’ as per the IUCN Red list.

Explanation :

• VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research) Faculty scheme by the Department of Science and Technology enables NRIs and overseas scientific community to participate and contribute to research and development in India. It aims to link the Indian institutions with the best faculty of the world.
• Only public funded academic institutions and national laboratories are eligible to host the VAJRA Faculty.
• The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the department implements this Scheme. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Source: www.dst.gov.in/vajra

Explanation :

•The MCC, often described as a voluntary Moral Code of Conduct, is a set of guidelines issued to parties, candidates and the government to ensure free and fair elections.

•There is no statute governing these guidelines. The Code of Conduct comes into force immediately after the elections are announced by the EC.

•Even though the Code of Conduct does not have any statutory backing, the EC has the power to disqualify a candidate if he/ she violate the code.

Explanation :

• At a time when a recent survey found seven elephant corridors in the country impaired, the Asian Elephant Alliance, an umbrella initiative by five NGOs, has come together to secure 96 out of the 101 existing corridors used by elephants across 12 states in India.

• NGOs Elephant Family, International Fund for Animal Welfare, IUCN Netherlands and World Land Trust has teamed up with WTI in the alliance.

Explanation :

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is an alliance of the countries of North America and Europe i.e. it provides a link between the western countries of two continents. The membership of NATO is open to all the countries of Europe. The decision to add any country as the member of NATO is taken by consensus.
• Japan, South Korea, New Zealand are among the countries which are not the members of NATO.

Explanation :

• In the recent Interim Budget, government has allocated Rs. 750 crore for the Rashtriya Gokul Mission which aims to conserve and develop indigenous breeds of cattle. The scheme is run by the Ministry of Agriculture & Family Welfare.
• RGM is aimed at conserving indigenous Indian breeds of cattle through selective breeding, especially for the genetic upgrade of 11.3 crore low-milk yield nondescript bovines in the country.
• The government has announced to set up the Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog which aims to improve sustainable genetic upgrading of cow resources, and to enhance production and productivity of cows.

Source: TH, IE

Explanation :

• Kerala recently became the first state to set up a price monitoring and research unit (PMRU) to track violation of prices of essential drugs and medical devices under the Drugs Price Control Order.

Explanation :

Operating Ratio (OR) conveys how efficient the system/ organization is. Lower the OR, more efficient the system is.

What does an OR Value of 95% mean?

It means that the organization is spending Rs. 95 to earn Rs. 100. Hence a low value of OR is always preferable.

Source: TH

Explanation :

• The INF Treaty was signed between the US and USSR in 1987. Under the INF treaty, the US and Soviet Union agreed not to develop, produce, possess or deploy any ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles that have a range between 500 and 5,500 km. It exempted the air-launched and sea-based missile systems in the same range.
• INF Treaty was signed between the US & Soviet Union, but due to disintegration of Soviet Union in 1991, it is no longer a treaty only between US and Russia, but it is a treaty that was adhered to by US, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Recently, US withdrew from the Treaty, following which Russia too have suspended their participation.

Source: TH