IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Nov 05 & 06, 2016

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• India is the second largest consumer of fertilizers in the world after China.
• Indian fertilizer requirement is largely dependent on imports – around 25% in case of Urea, around 50% in case of Natural gas (feedstock), more than 50% in case of phosphatic and around 100% for potassic fertilizers.
• India is also dependent on foreign players for sourcing of technology / licensing and technological up-gradation.
• Hence it is of prime importance to have an indigenous research environment in India to achieve Food Security for the common man.

ANSWER: Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers

Explanation:

• ICFNR would be having a Governing Council and an Executive Committee for monitoring the progress in the field.
• The Governing Council is chaired by the Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers and Executive Committee is chaired by Secretary, Fertilizers.
• Governing Council will meet every six months and Executive Council will meet every quarter.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• ICFNR, set up under the administrative control of Department of Fertilizers (DoF), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers (MoCF), would be exclusively devoted to promotion of research in Fertilizer sector.
• The mandate of the Governing Council and areas of operation of ICFNR include promotion of research in area of fertilizer manufacturing technology, use of raw material and innovation in fertilizer products, eco-friendly micro nutrients and pesticide coated slow release fertilizers, bio fertilisers & organic fertilisers and their derivatives.
• ICFNR is located at National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) office, Noida.
• For the initial funding, seed money from the three Fertilizer PSUs viz. NFL, RCF and FAGMIL will be provided on annual basis. Subsequently, Government of India will provide budgetary support and the ICFNR shall be funded by Department of Fertilizers through Plan fund allocation for which a separate plan head will be created.

ANSWER: 1, 3

Explanation:

• Stress management mobile application "No More Tension" helps users to manage stress.
• The main objective of 'No More Tension' is to provide information to users regarding stress such as, what is stress, effects, symptoms and its management.
• The application allows the user to measure their stress level and learn various techniques like yoga and meditation to reduce stress from their lives.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• The "Healthy India Initiative/Swastha Bharat-ek pehal", a quarterly magazine, will cater to health related information and will raise awareness about healthy living.
• The magazine will cover different aspect of health: women and child health, elderly health, seasonal ailments, daily nutritional needs, safe medication practices, home remedies healthy living and many more.
• The magazine will be made available at all the government facilities up to the sub-centre and will be available free of cost.
• The e-version of this magazine is also available for download. The current issue is in Hindi and English and the next version will be available in 13 other languages.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• HRD Ministry inaugurated the world’s largest digital nation-building initiative "Smart India Hackathon 2017".
• Through Smart India Hackathon 2017, HRD ministry is keen on reaching out to all technology institutions in India and challenge students to offer innovative solutions to some of the daunting problems faced by our nation.
• The first set of 250 problem statements received from various ministries that the students will be required to solve during the Hackathon that will take place in early 2017 has been unveiled.
• The Hackathon will have nearly 500 problem statements in all which will be published on innovate.mygov.in
• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), University Grants Commission (UGC), i4c, MyGov, NASSCOM, Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini and Persistent Systems have joined hands to organize this ambitious "Smart India Hackathon 2017" under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• The UN is urged to consider declaring soon a "Year of Agrobiodiversity" to draw worldwide attention and to catalyze urgent action. The declaration does not declare any specific year.
• The declaration calls upon nations to accord top priority to the agrobiodiversity conservation and their sustainable use towards achieving targets of SDGs relating to poverty alleviation, food and nutritional security, good health, gender equity and partnership.
• The declaration recognizes the importance of traditional knowledge on agrobiodiversity of farm men and women, pastoralists and other tribal and rural communities and their central role in its conservation and use for a food and climate resilient world.
• The declaration calls upon countries to develop the necessary funding, legal and institutional mechanism to ensure and facilitate their continued active participation.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:

• The declaration urges researchers and policy-makers to initiate, strengthen, and promote complementary conservation strategies to conserve and use agrobiodiversity including crop wild relatives in more dynamic way to ensure a continuum between ex situ, in situ and on farm conservation strategies to combat food and nutrition insecurity as well as adverse effects of climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss.
• The declaration invites researchers to employ modern technologies including, but not limited to, genomic, space, computational, and nano-technologies for characterization, evaluation and trait discovery using genetic resources. The aim should be to achieve efficiency, equality, economy and environmental security in agricultural production systems and landscapes.
• The declaration makes no comment on organic farming or stopping use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

ANSWER: 2, 3

Explanation:

• The 2016 Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) adopted "New Delhi Declaration" and "Asian Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework".
• It was the first AMCDRR to be held after the advent of the Sendai Framework for DRR (SFDRR) 2015-2030.
• The next AMCDRR will be held in Mongolia in 2018.
• The "New Delhi Declaration" is a political statement spelling out the commitment of participating governments towards preventing and reducing disaster risk, and strengthening the resilience of communities, nations and the Asian region.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:
The Asian Regional Plan for Implementation of the Sendai Framework focuses on the "How to" reduce disaster risk at national and local levels. The Asia Regional Plan seeks to guide and support the national implementation of the Sendai Framework, but is not a replacement of national plans.

This regional plan aims to provide:

• Broad policy direction to guide the implementation of the Sendai Framework in the context of the 2030 sustainable development agendas in the region;
• Long term road map, spanning the 15-year horizon of the Sendai Framework outlining a chronological pathway for implementation of priorities to achieve seven global targets;
• Two-year action plan with specific activities that are prioritized based on the long term road map and in line with the policy direction.