10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : January 10, 2019

1. The country with the highest area under transgenic crops, at 75 mh, is the United States
2. India has the world’s fifth largest cultivated area under genetically modified (GM) crops, at 11.4 million hectares (mh) in 2017
3. But unlike other big growers, its entire GM crop area is under a single crop — cotton — incorporating genes from the Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt soil bacterium coding for resistance against heliothis bollworm insect pests.

The Government of India set up Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). on 1st March 2002 under the provisions of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001. The mission of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and strategies with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles, within the overall framework of the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 with the primary objective of reducing energy intensity of the Indian economy.

The Major Promotional Functions of BEE include:

Create awareness and disseminate information on energy efficiency and conservation

Arrange and organize training of personnel and specialists in the techniques for efficient use of energy and its conservation

Strengthen consultancy services in the field of energy conservation

Promote research and development

Develop testing and certification procedures and promote testing facilities

Formulate and facilitate implementation of pilot projects and demonstration projects

Promote use of energy efficient processes, equipment, devices and systems

Take steps to encourage preferential treatment for use of energy efficient equipment or appliances

Promote innovative financing of energy efficiency projects

Give financial assistance to institutions for promoting efficient use of energy and its conservation

Prepare educational curriculum on efficient use of energy and its conservation

Implement international co-operation programmes relating to efficient use of energy and its conservation

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the Democracy Index which ranks 167 countries by 60 indicators across five broad categories. The categories considered for the index are electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties. The index classifies each country either as a full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime or authoritarian.

The Constitution of India designates the official language of the Government of India as Hindi written in the Devanagari script, as well as English.

There is no national language as declared by the Constitution of India.

Hindi is used for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.

States within India have the liberty and powers to specify their own official language(s) through legislation and therefore there are 22 officially recognized languages in India of which Hindi is the most used.

The legal framework governing the use of languages for official purpose currently includes the Constitution, the Official Languages Act, 1963, Official Languages (Use for Official Purpose of the Union) Rules, 1976, and various state laws, as well as rules and regulations made by the central government and the states.

Sukanya Samridhi Scheme is a small deposit scheme for the girl child launched as a part of the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ campaign. A Sukanya Samriddhi Account can be opened any time after the birth of a girl till she turns 10, with a minimum deposit of Rs 250. Earlier it was Rs. 1000. However, the government reduced it to Rs. 250 Under the new rules, known as Sukanya Samriddhi Account (Amendment) Rules, 2018

All the sites are Harappan sites

• Rakhigari- Haryana
• Rangpur- Gujarat
• Mitathal- Haryana
• Malwan-Gujarat (Southernmost Harappan site in India)