Civil Service Exam: കിസാൻ ക്രെഡിറ്റ് കാർഡ് സ്കീമില്‍ എന്തൊക്കെ കാര്യങ്ങളാണ് നടപ്പിലാക്കുന്നത്?

Answer (a)

The Directive Principles of State Policy are enumerated in Part IV of the Constitution from Articles 36 to 51. The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 added four new Directive Principles to the original list. They require the State:
•    to secure opportunities for the healthy development of children (Article 39).
•    to promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor (Article 39 A).
•    to take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries (Article 43 A). Fundamental Duties do not have any provision related to this concern.
•    to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wildlife (Article 48 A).
•    Under Article 51A (g) it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.
•    In addition, Under Article 51A Constitution also provides that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India: 
o    to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
o    to develop the scientific temper, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform.

Answer (d)

•    The essential religious practice doctrine means that any religious practices that are so 'essential' to religion or form the basis of religion, will fall within the protection of Articles 25 and 26 and should be protected as such.
•    A seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court invented the doctrine of ―essentiality in the Shirur Mutt case in 1954. The court held that the term ―religion‖ will cover all rituals and practices ―integral to a religion, and took upon itself the responsibility of determining the essential and non-essential practices of a religion.
•    Supreme Court has observed that fundamental rights do not offer iron cast protection for "essential and integral" religious practices. Such traditions can be struck down as unconstitutional if they discriminate on grounds of caste, sex, public morality, health, etc.

Answer (b)

•    The Surplus Distribution Policy of RBI that was finalized is in line with the recommendations of the Bimal Jalan committee that was formed by the RBI, in consultation with the Government, to review the extant Economic Capital Framework of the RBI.
 

Answer (d)

•    The Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme was introduced in 1998 for the issue of Kisan Credit Cards to farmers on the basis of their holdings for uniform adoption by the banks so that farmers may use them to readily purchase agriculture inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc. and draw cash for their production needs.
•    The scheme was further extended for the investment credit requirement of farmers viz. allied and non-farm activities in the year 2004. The scheme was further revisited in 2012 by a Working Group under the Chairmanship of Shri T. M. Bhasin, CMD, Indian Bank with a view to simplify the scheme and facilitate the issue of Electronic Kisan Credit Cards.
•    The Kisan Credit Card Scheme is to be implemented by Commercial Banks, RRBs, Small Finance Banks, and Cooperatives.
•    Eligibility
o    Farmers - individual/joint borrowers who are owner cultivators;
o    Tenant farmers, oral lessees & sharecroppers;
o    Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) of farmers including tenant farmers, sharecroppers, etc.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. The Shyok River originates at the Rimo Glacier, one of the tongues of Siachen Glacier. It is a tributary of the Indus River. The Shyok flows through northern Ladakh and Nubra valley and enters Gilgit–Baltistan. The Nubra River is a river is a tributary of the Shyok.

Statement 2 is correct. Indus river originates in the glaciers of Kailas range near Lake Manasarovar lake. After entering Ladakh, it flows between the Ladakh and the Zaskar Ranges. Then it is joined by the Zaskar River at Leh and Shyok river at Skardu. Rivers such as Gilgit, Garstang, Dras, Shiger, Hunza are the other Himalayan tributaries of the Indus. It flows through the regions of Ladakh, Baltistan, and Gilgit and crosses the Himalayas near Attock (north of the Nanga Parbat). From here it takes a sharp southerly bend (syntaxial bend) and the Kabul River from Afghanistan joins the Indus from here.

Statement 3 is not correct. Khardung La on Ladakh range lies north of Leh and it is the gateway to Shyok and Nubra valley.

Answer (b)

•    El Nino and La Nina are complex weather patterns resulting from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific Region. They are opposite phases of what is known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
•    La Nina, the “cool phase” of ENSO, is a pattern that describes the unusual cooling of the tropical eastern Pacific.
•    La Nina causes drought in the South American countries of Peru and Ecuador, heavy floods in Australia, high temperatures in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, off the Somalian coast, and comparatively better monsoon rains in India. Generally, El Nino and La Nina occur every 4 -5 years. El Nino is more frequent than La Nina.

Answer (c)

•    Ecological opportunity is the availability of ecologically accessible resources that may be evolutionarily exploited. It includes the biotic and abiotic conditions that both permit the persistence of a lineage within a community, as well as generate divergent natural selection within that lineage.
•    The ecological opportunity arises from two fundamental elements: 
o    Niche availability: The ability of a population with a phenotype previously absent from a community to persist within that community.
o    Niche discordance: the diversifying selection generated by the adaptive mismatch between a population's niche-related traits and the newly encountered ecological conditions.

Answer (d)

All the Statements given are correct.

•    Besides key coastal habitats like coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves, the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve supports several globally important species such as the critically endangered Dugong dugon (sea cow), all protected sharks (IWPA, 1972) including the whale shark, sea horses, green and hawksbill sea turtles, dolphins and sea cucumbers and several endemic species of Balanoglossus, seagrass, crabs, and mangroves.
•    Designated as a Biosphere Reserve, the Gulf of Mannar is one of the biologically richest coastal regions in all of the mainland of India. It is the first Marine Biosphere Reserve in South and Southeast Asia. It is part of the Man and Biosphere (MAB) program by UNESCO.
•    The Gulf of Mannar is known for its pearl banks of Pinctada radiata and Pinctada fucata for at least two thousand years. Pearl fishery of the gulf as one of the most productive in the world.

Answer (b)

Statement 1 is not correct. India and US signed the Statement of Guiding Principles on Triangular Cooperation for global development in 2014. It underscores the contribution of the India-US partnership to global stability and prosperity. 

Statement 2 is correct. It provides a framework for promoting cooperation between the two countries to meet the developmental aspirations of partner countries, particularly in Asia and Africa.

Answer (d)

Statement 1 is correct. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death. 
As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.

Statement 2 is correct. AMR occurs naturally over time, usually through genetic changes. Antimicrobial-resistant organisms are found in people, animals, food, plants, and the environment (in water, soil, and air).

Statement 3 is correct. They can spread from person to person or between people and animals, including from food of animal origin. The main drivers of antimicrobial resistance include the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials; lack of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for both humans and animals; poor infection and disease prevention and control in healthcare facilities and farms; poor access to quality, affordable medicines, vaccines and diagnostics; lack of awareness and knowledge; and lack of enforcement of legislation.