IAS / IPS STUDIES - 5

RAPID GK SERIES

QUESTIONS

1. This King built the Sanchi Stupa
2. In 1994, the Malhotra Committee recommended the Privatization of this Sector
3. India is this much of largest in terms of area-wise
4. The chairmanship/presidency of the UN Security Council rotates among the Council Members
5. Chakiarkoothu is the dance which believed to be originated from this Indian State
6. The Kalhari Desert is situated in this Place
7. The Study of Algae is called
8. Knot is the measure to know the speed of this
9. Glauber’s Salt is also known as
10. The Highest Indian Peak is

ANSWERS

1. King Ashoka
2. Insurance
3. Seventh
4. Every Month
5. Kerala
6. Botswana (Africa)
7. Phycology
8. Ship
9. Sodium Sulphate
10. K 2 (Godwin Austen, 8611 meters)



IMF approves plan to distribute gold sale profits

The International Monetary Fund on Feb 24 2012 approved a plan to distribute about $1.1 billion in profits from past gold sales to IMF member countries, with the expectation they would return the money to fund an anti-poverty loan programme.
Under theIMF board’s decision, the $1.1 billion in gold sales profits would be distributed once member countries have provided “satisfactory assurances” that they will return at least 90 percent, or $978 million, for the currently zero-interestloan program for low-income countries.
The IMF board approved a limited sale of the Fund’s gold reserves in 2008 to diversify income soures.
The sales carried out between October 2009 and December 2010 generated total revenue of about $14.8 billion, of which $10.6 billion was profit.
The Fund has already decided to place at least $6.8 billion of the profits in an endowment to diversify the IMF‘s income away from the money it earns on loans.
It still has not decided how to distribute another $2.7 billion in profits from the gold sales.



India reiterates Arunachal is ours

Highly-placed government sources have reacted sharply to Chinese remarks that India should refrain from taking any action that could "complicate" the border issue.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei had "asked India to work with China to maintain peace and stability in border areas" after Defence Minister AK Antony visited Arunachal Pradesh for its statehood celebrations.
Reacting to the remarks, government sources reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India and that it was not the first time Antony had visited the northeastern state.
China routinely takes exception to any high level visits of Indian officials to Arunachal Pradesh which it claims is a part of Southern Tibet. It was part of the discussion of the past 15 rounds of border talks by the Special Representatives by the two countries.
China also denies visa to people of Arunachal Pradesh as part of its claim to the area.
In a recent case, visa was denied to a senior Indian Air Force officer to visit China as part of defence delegation prompting New Delhi to scale down the size of the delegation.



CBEC to issue Bio-metric cards soon to check fraud

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) will soon issue bio-metric cards to custom house agents to check fraud and misuse of services.
CBEC chairman SK Goel said Bio-metric smart cards will be issued first in Mumbai in all the three Customs zones.
He gave information that a fraudulent person will not be able to file documents anywhere in the city as his fingerprints would not match and his photo would be flashed across all zones.


Rhino census starts from March 15 in Assam

In Assam, forest department will start rhino census from 15 March. State Wildlife’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Suresh Chand says that census will be conducted in Kaziranga and Orang National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
It may be noted that Assam is the home of the highest number of one -horn rhinoceros in the world. As per 2009 survey, a total of 2 thousand 301 rhinos were found in Assam.
The census will be categorized in male, female, calf and adult section. The exact number of rhino will be traced through camera mapping.



'Give freedom to states in use of rural funds'

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has made a strong pitch for flexibility in use of funds under his ministry and suggested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that 50 percent of his ministry's annual allocation be given to states as flexi-funds by the end of 12th Plan.
The minister, who was in Kerala on a three-day visit, called for a change in architecture of rural development programmes so that better developed states reap as much benefit as those lower on the development parameters.
Ramesh said that rural development programmes did not have "built-in flexibility" and were "too rigid". He said that rural development schemes were focused more on states that were backward and did not reflect the needs of states like Kerala which has high literacy and effective grassroots organisations.
The rural development ministry, which monitors some key flagship schemes of United Progressive Alliance Government (UPA), pumps in around Rs 90,000 crore every year in rural development schemes.
The demand for greater flexibility in rural schemes also came from Kerala Rural Development Minister KC Joseph who met Ramesh and participated with him at a Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) meet in Alapuezha district.
Joseph demanded that coir industry in the state should be included in MGNREGA and working hours under the scheme should be 9 am to 4 pm as there is high participation of women.



Indian Railways fall under CCI's ambit:

The Delhi High Court has held that the Indian Railways is an 'enterprise' and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is empowered to hear complaints against it for alleged abuse of its dominant position in goods transport sector.
Holding that there is a "commercial angle" to the services rendered by the railways, Justice Vipin Sanghi dismissed the railway ministry's plea challenging the CCI jurisdiction to decide cases related to it.
The railways had taken a plea that it was not an "enterprise" as defined under the Competition Act and the CCI lacked jurisdiction to hear a complaint that it was allegedly abusing its dominant position in the trade of goods transport.
The judgement, which broadened the ambit of the panel by bringing railways' commercial activities under it, came on the plea of the public carrier against a CCI verdict.



SBI to slash interest rate on education loans

The State Bank of India, SBI, has taken in-principle decision to slash interest on education loans by up to one percentage point. SBI Managing Director and Chief Finance Officer Diwakar Gupta said, the bank will issue the notification shortly.
At present, interest rates on education loans range from 12.25 per cent to 14.50 per cent, depending on their quantum and the duration. SBI is also offering a concession of 0.5 per cent on interest rates for loans given to female students.
About the possible slashing of home loan rates, Mr. Gupta said, the possibility is less.



Budget: CII urges FM to retain current tax rates on excise

Confederation of Indian Industry, CII today asked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to retain the current rates of excise and service tax in the Budget to boost investments.
CII said in its pre-Budget memorandum that there is a strong need for retaining the current rates of excise and service tax to spur investment by the industry.
As the government is faced with widening fiscal deficit, there are apprehensions in the industry that excise duty may be hiked in the Budget.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the Budget for 2012-13 on March 16.



Incidence of cancer highest in North-East

The incidence of cancer in North-East is the highest in India. According to Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, it is well over the national cancer incidence of approximately 10 to 13 thousand individuals per crore of population.
The Cachar Cancer Hospital & Research Centre is the only hope for the cancer patients of the one crore population of the three districts of Barak valley of Assam, where more than 15 thousand patients are being treated annually.
The hospital and research centre was started in 1996 by a voluntary organization at Silchar. Today it has become one of the three specialized hospitals for cancer patients available in the entire north east India. Most of the patients are daily wage laborers and agricultural workers.
The hospital has got facilities for chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. It has divisions of pathology, preventive oncology, and pain and palliative care.
Not only treatment and cure, they also work for awareness creation for prevention of cancer. Patients from the neighboring states of Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and even Arunachal Pradesh have started coming to this hospital for their treatment.



Govt takes initiative to launch white revolution in Assam

In Assam, Governor J B Patnaik has taken initiative to launch a white revolution. It will cover Tinsukia in the first phase as a few places of the district have already achieved success in milk production.
Upper Assam Division Commissioner Ifitkar Hussain said, in a bid to improve the social and economic condition of the people of insurgency affected Sadia, Kakopathar and Tinsukia areas, the Governor have initiated the scheme. He further said, Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency has already submitted the detailed project report on it.
Tinsukia district administration has involved various government departments, Self Help Groups (SHGs), dairy development societies and local banks to implement the scheme. There are 200 dairy development societies and 15 SHGs being involved in this process.
Assam government is likely to extend the scheme to Majuli in the next phase.