IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Jan 07, 2016

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:
- Mount Aconcagua is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Mendoza Province, Argentina
- The summit is located about 15 kilometres from the international border with Chile
- It is one of the Seven Summits.
- The mountain was created by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate
- India’s star amputee mountaineer Arunima Sinha has successfully scaled Mount Aconcagua in Argentina as part of her Mission 7 Summits.

ANSWER: Consolidated Fund of State

Explanation:
- The salaries and other expenses of the judges and maintenance of the state high courts are charged from Consolidated fund of the state. The article 202 deals with the state budget.
- Article 202(3): ”expenditure in respect of the salaries and allowances of Judges of any High Court and any sums required to satisfy and judgment, decree or award of any court or arbitral tribunal”shall be charged on the Consolidated Fund of each State

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
- IUPAC:International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
- IUPAP:International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
- IUPAC and IUPAP confirm the discoveries of the elements ununtrium, ununpentium, ununseptium and ununoctium.
- The IUPAC/IUPAP Joint Working Party is a group convened periodically by the IUPAC and IUPAP to consider claims for discovery and naming of new chemical elements.
- The working party's recommendations are voted on by the General Assembly of the IUPAP

ANSWER: BCCI office-bearer’s tenure should not exceed more than three consecutive terms

Explanation:
Recommendations of Lodha committee:

- BCCI office-bearer’s tenure should not exceed more than two consecutive terms
- Abolition of regional fiefdom
- Empowerment of players (both past and present)
- Dissolution of the zonal system
- Raising the level of the cash-rich institution’s accountability and transparency.

ANSWER: India- Nepal

Explanation:
- A friendship bus service between India and Nepal was started via Champawat district in Uttarakhand after a gap of 27 years.
- The resumed bus service will run between Kanchanpur in Nepal close to the Banbasa border in Champawat district and Anand Vihar in New Delhi.
- People travelling in these buses do not require any special documents to travel.
- These buses are air conditioned and provide free wi-fi connectivity to passengers.
- The India-Nepal friendship bus service was suspended 27 years back in the wake of the Indo-Nepal Trade and Transit Treaty.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:
- CIC is not eligible for reappointment.
- Former Defence Secretary RK Mathur was sworn in as the eighth Chief Information Commissioner.
- The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee has selected Mathur as the new CIC.
- The committee also includes Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and leader of Congress party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, as its members.
RK Mathur will succeed Vijai Sharma.
- The Commission is made up of one chief and 10 Information Commissioners.

ANSWER: National Remote Sensing Center

Explanation:
- National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for web-based monitoring of watershed projects.
- The web-based monitoring of Indo-German Watershed Development (IGWDP) projects will happen in three states, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Telangana.
- NRSC will create a separate page for Nabard on Bhuvan web-portal, develop customised software tool and mobile application for real time monitoring, online comparison and visualisation

ANSWER: National Security Guard

Explanation:
The term "paramilitary forces" in India has not been defined in any acts or by authorities officially however they are conventionally used to refer to three forces i.e. Assam Rifles, Special Frontier Force and Indian Coast Guard Central Armed Police Forces were formerly referred as Paramilitary Forces however from March 2011

ANSWER: Ministry of Home

Explanation:
- Assam Rifles under the control of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
- They perform many roles including the provision of internal security under the control of the army through the conduct of counter insurgency and border security operations, provision of aid to the civil power in times of emergency, the provision of communications, medical assistance and education in remote areas.
- The Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force of India.

ANSWER: None

Explanation:
- Gestational Surrogacy is when a women also referred to as a surrogate mother carries a baby for an intended couple or individual.
- The gestational surrogate has no genetic relationship to the child that she is carrying.
- In Traditional Surrogacy the surrogate mother uses her own eggs to create the child that she is carrying for the intended parents or individual. Either the sperm of the intended father is used or donor sperm

ANSWER: Ministry of Home

Explanation:
- National Security Guard (NSG) was raised in 1984, following Operation Blue Star and the assassination of Indira Gandhi
- Its aim was combating terrorist activities with a view to protect States against internal disturbances
- NSG is under the authority of Ministry of Home Affairs (India), However it is not categorised under the uniform nomenclature of Central Armed Police Forces.
- It has a special forces mandate, and its core operational capability is provided by the Special Action Group (SAG) which is drawn from the Indian Army.
- The Special Rangers Group (SRG), the police component of NSG, which also handles VIP security, is composed of personnel on deputation from other Central Armed Police Forces and State Police Forces.

ANSWER: Marathi

Explanation:
- Leela Charitra is a biography of Shri Chakradhar Swami, the guru of the Mahanubhava sect
- It is a sacred text of Mahanubhava sect.
- It was written in the late 13th century by his follower Mahim Bhat.
- It is the earliest known written work of Marathi literature.