10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : February 15, 2018

President Ram Nath Kovind hosted an ‘LPG Panchayat at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 14th Feb, 2018. It was organised by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY). The LPG Panchayat aims to provide a platform for LPG consumers to interact with each other, promote mutual learning and share experiences.

Russian space agency Roskosmos has successfully launched Progress MS-08, an unmanned cargo spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched on board of Soyuz-2.1a rocket from Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan. Soyuz-2.1a has four strap-on boosters and core engine, all fueled by mix of kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 extends to the whole of India.

Statement 2 is correct. According to this act, the “air pollutant” means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance (including noise) present in the atmosphere in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to human beings or other living creatures or plants or property or environment.

Statement 3 is correct. The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 makes provisions for the establishing of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at the apex level and State Pollution Control Boards at the state level.

India has the unique distinction of being the only country producing all the five known commercial silks, namely, mulberry, tropical tasar, oak tasar, eri and muga, of which muga with its golden yellow glitter is unique and prerogative of India. Eri and Muga are produced in Assam.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Both anti dumping duty and Normal Customs duty are levied and collected by the Customs Authorities.

Statement 2 is correct. Customs duties are there as a means of raising revenue and for overall development of the economy. Therefore, they fall in the realm of trade and fiscal policies of the Government while anti dumping and anti subsidy measures are there as trade remedial measures.

Dumping is said to occur when the goods are exported by a country to another country at a price lower than its normal value. This is an unfair trade practice which can have a distortive effect on international trade. Anti dumping is a measure to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect. Thus, the purpose of anti dumping duty is to rectify the trade distortive effect of dumping and re-establish fair trade. The use of anti dumping measure as an instrument of fair competition is permitted by the WTO. In fact, anti dumping is an instrument for ensuring fair trade and is not a measure of protection per se for the domestic industry. It provides relief to the domestic industry against the injury caused by dumping.

In India, anti dumping are recommended by Commerce Ministry’s Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) and imposed by Finance Ministry.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

Statement 2 is correct. The India Health Fund (IHF), an initiative by Tata Trusts, in collaboration with the Global Fund has come forward to financially support innovations and technologies designed to combat tuberculosis and malaria.

The IHF aims to support new products and strategies that impact the entire lifecycle of TB and malaria, from prevention to post-cure recovery. It has recently invited project proposals.

The statue of Gommateshwara of Shravanabelagola was built in deference to deference to Jain deity Bahubali.