IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - July 14, 2016

ANSWER: PUSA Institute

Explanation:

• The Cabinet approved amendment to a bill for changing the name of Rajendra Central Agricultural University to 'Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University'.
• This university is in Pusa, Samstipur, Bihar.
• It is located in place of the original PUSA Institue.
• The original PUSA Institute has been shifted to Delhi Campus in 1936. The foundation stone of the Agricultural Research Institute and college was laid by Lord Curzon on the 1st of April, 1905. Pusa received an imperial status in 1918, being renamed as the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).
• After independence it was called Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). It was located in Delhi by then.
• Bihar Government then built Rajendra Central Agricultural University on PUSA’s location.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• According to the clause 3 of Article 370, The President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative, provided that he receives the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State (J&K).
• Thus, Article 370 can be revoked only if a new Constituent Assembly of Kashmir recommends revocation.
• Since the last Constituent Assembly was dissolved in January 1957 after it completed the task of framing the state’s Constitution, so if the parliament agrees to scrap Article 370, a fresh constituent Assembly will have to be formed.
• The constituent Assembly will consist of the same MLAs elected to the State Assembly. Thus the Centre cannot repeal Article 370 without the permission of J&K State.

ANSWER: Find amount of pollution in remote corners of Earth

Explanation:

• NASA is launching an airborne mission that will map the contours of the Earth’s atmosphere to discover how much pollution exists in the most remote corners of the planet and assess how the environment has changed as a result.
• Pollutants emitted to the atmosphere are dispersed over the whole globe, but remote regions are cleaner, by factors of 1,000 or more, than areas near the continents, researchers said.
• The Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission is the first to survey the atmosphere over the oceans.
• ATom is particularly interested in methane, ozone and airborne particles called black carbon, which have strong effects on climate and which all have both human and natural origins.

ANSWER: Presence of more than one type of mitochondrial DNA within a cell or individual

Explanation:

• Mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, are unique in several ways.
• A cell can have multiple mitochondriae, with each mitochondriae differing from one another by a few variations. This phenomenon is known as heteroplasmy.
• Heteroplasmy can vary between cells of the same tissue, organ, individual or even between individuals of the same family. It is present in healthy individuals too.
• A person does not manifest the disease when the heteroplasmy frequencies are low, usually less than 10 per cent.
• Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi, has the global data of every disease causing mitochondrial mutation and its frequency.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

• The nations involved are – China, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.
• The disputed Islands are – Spratly Islands, Paracel islands, Pratas, Macclasfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• If the court holds the presidential proclamation to be unconstitutional and invalid, it has power to restore the dismissed state government and revive the state legislative assembly if it was suspended or dissolved.
• The state legislative assembly should be dissolved only after the Parliament has approved the presidential proclamation. Until such approval is given, the president can only suspend the assembly. In case the Parliament fails to approve the proclamation, the assembly would get reactivated.
• The question of the state government losing the confidence of the legislative assembly should be decided on the floor of the House and until that is done the ministry should not be unseated.
• Where a new political party assumes power at the Centre, it will not have the authority to dismiss ministries formed by other parties in the states.

ANSWER: 143

Explanation:

• President can seek advice from the Supreme Court on any question of law or fact. However, the advice tendered by the Supreme Court is not binding on the President.
• The Constitutional cases or references made by the President under Article 143 are decided by a Bench consisting of at least five judges.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• Every death caused by the armed forces in a disturbed area, whether the victim is a dreaded criminal or a militant or a terrorist or an insurgent, should be thoroughly enquired into, the Supreme Court held.
• This is to address any allegation of use of excessive or retaliatory force beyond the call of duty.
• Dealing a blow to the immunity enjoyed by security personnel under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) against criminal action for acts committed in disturbed areas, the apex court held that “there is no concept of absolute immunity from trial by a criminal court” if an Army man has committed an offence.
• Even if the enquiry finds the victim an enemy, a probe should look into whether excessive or retaliatory force was used.