ANSWER: C

• Nirdeshak, the second of the four Survey Vessels (Large) (SVL) projects being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in collaboration with L&T shipbuilding for the Indian Navy was launched, at Kattupalli, Chennai.
• The ship has taken its name from erstwhile Nirdeshak which was also an Indian Naval Survey ship and was decommissioned after 32 years of glorious service in December 2014.

ANSWER: C

• Indian writer Geetanjali Shree and American translator Daisy Rockwell won the International Booker Prize for “Tomb of Sand,”.
• Originally written in Hindi, it’s the first book in any Indian language to win the high-profile award, which recognizes fiction from around the world that has been translated into English.
• The book tells the story of an octogenarian widow who dares to cast off convention and confront the ghosts of her experiences during the subcontinent’s tumultuous 1947 partition into India and Pakistan.

ANSWER: C

• The Central Advisory Board on Archaeology (CABA), which was formed seven years ago to promote ties between the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)and people working in the field of archaeological research, was re-established.

KEY POINTS:

• It was reconstituted for a three-year term to promote closer contacts between the Archaeological Survey of India and Indian universities conducting archaeological research and other institutions conducting studies related to the application of archaeological principles, as well as to provide for a closer association of learned societies in India with the ASI’s activities.
• Former ASI Director-Generals will also be on the board, as well as five persons chosen in their personal capacity by the Government of India.”

ANSWER: C

• India will introduce a newly approved “made in India” TB infection skin test called ‘c-TB.
• A new initiative, “Adopt people with TB” will be launched this year, based on Indian values of collectivism, which will call upon corporates, industries, organisations, political parties and individuals to come forward and adopt TB-infected people and families and provide them with nutritional and social support.

ANSWER: C

KEY POINTS:

• Through a network of academic institutions, researchers, policymakers, donors, and practitioners, UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti is at the forefront of the establishment of a Global Research Agenda and Platform for Children to amplify the voice of children and youth with disabilities.
• With the help of UNICEF‘s Office of Research – Innocenti, UNICEF and WHO created a series of 11 free-access background papers to accompany the Report.
• Around the world, 2.5 billion people require assistive technology. According to the estimate, by 2050, the population will have grown to 3.5 billion people.
• The gaps between low- and middle-income countries and high-income countries in terms of access to assistive technology are disturbing.
• Access to assistive technology for individuals who need it is as low as 3% in some low- and middle-income nations, whereas it is significantly higher in high-income countries, with up to 90% of people receiving the assistive devices and services they require.
• The worldwide impact of the WHO-UNICEF Global Report on Assistive Technology in this scenario will be unprecedented. Enabling settings and Assistive Technology are recognised in the Global Report as prerequisites for people in need to realise their human rights.

ANSWER: C

Key points

• The council’s mandate is to provide a solid institutional structure to promote and maintain cooperative federalism throughout the country, as well as to activate the council and zonal councils by holding regular meetings.
• It also enables the zonal councils and inter-State councils to address all current and emergent issues of Centre-State and inter-State relations, as well as build a strong mechanism for monitoring the execution of the inter-State council and zonal council’s recommendations.
• The Inter-State Council’s standing committee will be chaired by Amit Shah, and members will include Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Singh Tomar, Virendra Kumar, and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
• Members of the Inter-State Council’s standing committee include the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.
• The standing committee will consult continuously and process items for discussion by the council, as well as any matters relevant to center-state relations before they are brought before the inter-state council for deliberation.
• The standing committee also oversees the implementation of decisions made in response to the council’s recommendations and considers any additional matters presented to it by the chairman or the council.

ANSWER: B

• The agenda of the meeting is to discuss and deliberate ways to further deepen the Financial Inclusion drive in the country and to provide banking solutions to every citizen of India.
• Postal Department along with IPPB is working on the vision of the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative to promote digital payments and bring digital banking services to every nook and corner of the country in a customer-friendly manner.

ANSWER: D

• It is a week-long disaster management programme “JUARE” (Joint United Action for Resilience in Emergencies) organised by Kullu district administration at Atal Sadan Kullu.
• The programme was based on community participation and was an ambitious program which would ensure the participation of village panchayats, urban local bodies, school students for community risk, preparation of resource maps and identification of volunteers for civil protection at the time of disaster.