സിവില്‍ സര്‍വ്വീസ് പരീക്ഷ: ബെലാൻ വാലി എന്ന ചരിത്രാതീത പ്രദേശം എവിടെയാണ് ?

Answer (b)

Statement 1 is not correct. The committee of Privileges is a standing committee constituted in each house of the Parliament/state legislature. 
Statement 2 is correct. Lok Sabha committee has 15 members, while the Rajya Sabha committee has 10 members nominated by the Speaker in Lok Sabha and Chairman in Rajya Sabha respectively. 
Its function is to investigate the cases of breach of privilege and recommend appropriate action to the Speaker/Chairperson.

Answer (a)

In the following matters, the powers and status of the Rajya Sabha are equal to that of the Lok Sabha:

    Introduction and passage of ordinary bills.
    Introduction and passage of Constitutional amendment bills. Hence statement 1 is correct.
    Introduction and passage of financial bills involving expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India.
    Election and impeachment of the president.
    Election and removal of the Vice-President. However, Rajya Sabha alone can initiate the removal of the vice-president. He is removed by a resolution passed by the Rajya Sabha by an effective majority and agreed on to by the Lok Sabha by a simple majority.
    Making recommendation to the President for the removal of Chief Justice and judges of Supreme Court and high courts, chief election commissioner and comptroller and auditor general.
    Approval of ordinances issued by the President.
    Approval of proclamation of all three types of emergencies by the President.
    Selection of ministers including the Prime Minister. Under the Constitution, the ministers including the Prime Minister can be members of either House. However, irrespective of their membership, they are responsible only to the Lok Sabha.
    Consideration of the reports of the constitutional bodies like Finance Commission, Union Public Service Commission, comptroller and auditor general, etc.
    Enlargement of the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the Union Public Service Commission. Hence statement 2 is correct.
Statement 3 is not correct. Resolution for the discontinuance of the national emergency is an exclusive power of Lok Sabha. 
Statement 4 is not correct. Authorize Parliament to make a law on the state list is the exclusive power of Rajya Sabha Article (249).

Answer (c)

Statement 1 is correct. The Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA) an initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a voluntary alliance of partners, dedicated to addressing the challenges facing food security and agriculture by tapping the wealth and diversity of resources, knowledge, information, and expertise, from and between its members, in order to stimulate concrete initiatives at all levels. 
The Alliance is open to membership from all sectors, including governments, inter-governmental organizations, farmer organizations, NGOs, civil society groups, research institutes and, the private sector.
GACSA works towards three aspirational outcomes to:
o    Improve farmers’ agricultural productivity and incomes in a sustainable way;
o    Build farmers’ resilience to extreme weather and changing climate;
o    Reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture, when possible. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Answer (c)

Statement 1 is correct. The Forest Advisory Committee has approved a scheme that could allow “forests” to be traded as a commodity.  Forest Advisory Committee is an apex body tasked with adjudicating requests by the industry to raze forest land for commercial ends.
Statement 2 is correct.  The scheme allows agencies could be private companies, village forest communities to identify land and begin growing plantations. After three years, they would be eligible to be considered as compensatory forest land if they met the Forest Department’s criteria. An industry needing forest land could then approach the agency and pay it for parcels of such forested land, and this would then be transferred to the Forest Department and be recorded as forest land. At present Industries have often complained that they find it hard to acquire appropriate non-forest land, which has to be contiguous to the existing forest.
This scheme will encourage plantation by individuals outside the traditional forest area and will help in meeting international commitments such as sustainable development goals and nationally determined contributions.

Answer (d)

    Natural Capital includes those elements of nature that provide valuable goods and services to humans, such as the stock of forests, food, clean air, water, land, minerals, etc. It incorporates a broad perspective on the set of services provided by ecosystems assets.
    Natural Capital Accounting or environmental-economic accounting is a tool that can help to gain an understanding of the interaction between the economy and the environment. It can be used to measure the state of ecosystems, flows of ecosystem services as well as changes in stocks and flows of natural resources in relation to economic changes.

Answer (d)

IEX is the first and largest energy exchange in India providing a nationwide, automated trading platform for physical delivery of electricity, Renewable Energy Certificates and Energy Saving Certificates.
The exchange platform enables efficient price discovery and increases the accessibility and transparency of the power market in India while also enhancing the speed and efficiency of trade execution.
Statement 1 is correct. It is a publicly listed company with National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). 
Statement 2 is correct. It is approved and regulated by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and has been operating since 2008. 
Statement 3 is correct.  CERC is a statutory body functioning with quasi-judicial status under the Electricity Act 2003. 
o    CERC is a regulator of the power sector in India.
o    It intends to promote competition, efficiency, and economy in bulk power markets, improve the quality of supply, promote investments and advise the government on the removal of institutional barriers to bridge the demand-supply gap.

Answer (a)

Bolivia is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru Bolivia is also important due to the presence of Lake Titicaca.

Answer (b)

    The Department of Science and Technology (DST) had sanctioned Rs. 135 crores to IIT Hyderabad (IIT-H) under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to set up a Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, ROVs, etc.)
    The Technology Innovation Hub for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) at IIT Hyderabad, known as 'TiHAN Foundation' was incorporated as a Section-8 company by the institute in June 2020.
 

Answer (b)

Statement 1 is not correct. It is initiated by the US. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act came against the backdrop of three events that would have serious implications regarding geopolitics that are Iran’s Nuclear Missiles Program, Curbing Russian influence, North Korea, and weapons of mass destruction
Statement 2 is correct. Iran’s Nuclear Missiles Program: The United States Government believed that any progress in Iran’s nuclear missile program would further destabilize the Middle East as Iran has repeatedly made threats against Israel, a key NATO and United States ally. The CAATSA gives authority to the President of the United States to impose sanctions against any party involved in the sale and transfer of military technology to Iran.

Answer (d)

    Belan Valley in Uttar Pradesh near Prayag in Uttar Pradesh is one site where evidence of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic sites have been found in the sequence. 
    The prehistoric sites of Belan valley include Mahgara, Chopani Mando, and Koldihwa. Koldihwa in Belan valley has provided the earliest evidence of rice cultivation.