Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Indian journalist Ravish Kumar on was awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award for the year 2019.
• He is NDTV India's senior executive editor is one of India's most influential TV journalists.
• He is among five individuals who were declared winners of the award.
• The four other winners of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award are KoSwe Win from Myanmar, Angkhana Neelapaijit from Thailand, Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab from Philippines and Kim Jong-Ki from South Korea.

Ramon Magsaysay Award

• Established in 1957, it is Asia’s highest honour and is often regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
• It was established by the trustees of the New York City based Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Philippine government in the memory of Philippines’ third President Ramon Magsaysay.
• It is awarded annually to individuals or organizations from Asia region for their selfless and philanthropic service.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in consultation with the government, constituted a 6 member committee headed by the former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan in December, 2018, to review the economic capital framework of the Reserve Bank of India.
• Composition-
• Former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan (Chairman)
• Former Deputy Governor of RBI Rakesh Mohan (deputy chairman)
• Economic Affairs Secretary Subash Chandra Garg (member),
• RBI Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan (member)
• RBI board member Bharat Doshi (member)
• RBI board member Sudhir Mankad (member)
• The panel’s recommendation for transfer of excess reserves includes both the contingency fund and currency and gold revaluation reserve. Therefore, both the given statements are incorrect.

Source:Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• Gravitational lensing occurs when a huge amount of matter - a galaxy cluster, for example - creates a gravitational field that magnifies light from objects behind it.
• The Milky Way today forms the equivalent of one Sun every year, but in the past, that rate was up to 100 times greater. NASA now plans to look billions of years into the past in order to understand how our Sun formed.
• The NASA program aimed at using gravitational lensing via its James Webb telescope(scheduled to launch in 2021) is called Targeting Extremely Magnified Panchromatic Lensed Arcs and Their Extended Star Formation (TEMPLATES). So, both the given statements are correct.

Source:Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• On 29^th July, 2019, Odisha bagged the geographical indication (GI) tag for its “Odisha Rasagola”.
• The formal certification was issued by Chennai-based GI registry on its website.
• The GI tag for the same product from both the states will now be recognised by two distinct texture and taste.
• While West Bengal claimed that the idea of this delicacy was conceived by Nobin Chandra Das (birth 1845) at his Bagbazar residence in Kolkata, Odisha locals cite that their rasagola dates back to the 12th century when these were being offered at the PuriJagannath Temple.

GI Tag

• A GI refers to a name or distinctive sign that is used on a product i.e., usually owned collectively, and can be used to distinguish goods on the basis of its geographical origin and unique characteristics.
• Also, the GI tag helps in marketing and branding of a local product, and can draw penalties if someone is found copying outside that geographical region.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) announced that it would set up a Pashmina testing centre in Leh, in partnership with the lab of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh to check the quality of Pashmina collected.
• BIS would train the locals, with the cooperation of Leh Hill Council, in marking of the standards to save the time and money.

Pashmina Wool

• Pashmina is a fine type of Kashmiri wool which comes from 4 distinct breeds of the Cashmere goat namely:
• Changthangi (or Kashmir Pashmina goat) from the Changthang Plateau in Kashmir region
• Malra from Kargil area in Kashmir region
• Chegu from Himachal Pradesh
• Chyangara (or Nepalese Pashmina goat) from Nepal.
• In India, pashmina is obtained from Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, Lahaul and SpitiValley of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Kashi, Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand.
• Kashmir Pashmina has been assigned Geographical Indication (GI) tag under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• The CVC has constituted a four-member Advisory Board for Banking Frauds (ABBF)  headed by former Vigilance Commissioner T M Bhasinto examine bank fraud over Rs 50 crore and recommend action.
• Other members of the panel are Madhusudan Prasad - former Urban Development Secretary, D K Pathak - former Director General of the Border Security Force and Suresh N Patel - former MD and CEO of Andhra Bank. The tenure of the Chairman and members would be for a period of two years from August 21, 2019.
• The panel in its previous avatar called the Advisory Board on Bank, Commercial and Financial Frauds.
• The board's jurisdiction would be confined to those cases involving the level of officers of General Manager and above in the PSB in respect of an allegation of a fraud in a borrowal account.
• CBI may also refer any case or matter to the board where it has any issue or difficulty or in technical matters with the PSB concerned.
• So, the statements given as 2 and 4 are correct while 1 and 3 incorrect.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• Rajasthan’s free medicine scheme secured the highest position with first ranking issued by the National Health Mission (NHM) among the sixteen states of the country.
• The scheme was launched on 2nd October 2011 and it provides 2 components:
  • Free Medicines: To provide commonly-used essential medicines free of cost to patients visiting government healthcare institutions (introduced on 2nd October 2011), and
  • Free Tests: To provide free tests (introduced on 7th April 2011)
• The number of free medicines has been increased from 608 to 712 and free tests from 70 to 90.

Significance

• The initiative was taken aiming to reduce out of pocket expenditure (OOPE) and improve footfalls in public health facilities.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• On 20^th August, 2019, Punjab government launched its flagship universal health insurance scheme SarbatSehatBimaYojana, benefitting nearly 46 lakh families.
• It is aimed at ensuring the best possible treatment to the beneficiaries free of cost.
• Under the scheme, E-cards will be provide to beneficiaries, who will be able avail annual cashless treatment up to Five lakh per family per year, including pre-existing diseases,
• The scheme has also been extended to around 4,500 journalists accredited to the state or holding yellow cards.
• Equipped with specially designed 1396 treatment packages, the scheme will be implemented through more than 450 empanelled hospitals, including 200 government hospitals.

Significance

• With this scheme, covering 76 percent ofits population, Punjab has become the first state in the country to offer medical insurance cover to the maximum number of its people.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• On 21^st August, 2019, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy released Solar Attractiveness Index (SARAL).
• Karnataka has emerged as the best state for setting up of roof top solar projects, followed by Telangana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh.
• Jammu and Kashmir has been ranked last in the index.
• The SARAL system currently captures five aspects: 
  • robustness of policy framework
  • implementation environment
  • investment climate
  • consumer experience
  • business ecosystem in the states

Significance

• It would incentivise rooftop solar by creating healthy competition among the states and will encourage all states to adopt the best practices being followed by top ranking states.
• It will help to meet the National target of achieving 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, of which 40 GW is expected to come from grid connected solar rooftops.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• On 20^thAugust, 2019, Maharashtra’s Tribal Development Department in association with the Pace Educational Trust launched an academic programme for young tribal students aspiring to be doctors and engineers.
• Inspired by the work of Patna’s Anand Kumar and his Super 30, which prepares smart but underprivileged students to sit for IIT entrance exams, the Super 50 programme will mentor 50 most meritorious tribal students from the State and prepare them for engineering and medical exams.
• It will be a two-year residential programme, where the students will be provided hostel and mess facilities, a tablet, NCERT books and career counselling.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online