10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : December 26, 2018

About Brahmaputra Flow:

• The Brahmaputra enters India in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, where it is called Siang.
• It makes a very rapid descent from its original height in Tibet, and finally appears in the plains, where it is called Dihang.
• It flows for about 35 km (22 mi) and is joined by the Dibang River and the Lohit River at the head of the Assam Valley.
• Below the Lohit, the river is called Brahmaputra and Burlung-Buthur by native Bodo tribal, it then enters the state of Assam.

• The port of Chabahar is located on the Makran coast of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, next to the Gulf of Oman and at the mouth of Strait of Hormuz.
• It is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean. Being close to Afghanistan and the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan etc., it has been termed the “Golden Gate” to these landlocked countries.
• Gwadar port is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf just outside the strategically important Strait of Hormuz

About MPLADS Scheme:

MPLADS is a centrally sponsored scheme fully funded by the government.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation formulates the guidelines, releases funds, and monitors implementation. Earlier, the scheme was administered by the ministry of rural development

MPLADS provides MPs five crore rupees per annum to identify and fund development projects in their constituencies, as per the guidelines drawn up by Parliament.

The role of MPs is limited to ‘recommending’ works as the actual implementation is done by local authorities. Therefore, the scheme does not violate separation of powers.

The MPs may recommend projects in sectors such as infrastructure development, public health, sanitation, water, etc.

Elected members of Lok Sabha can suggest developmental works in their constituency, while elected members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works in one or more districts of their State.

Nominated members of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha can recommend works in one or more districts anywhere in the country.

• NITI Aayog in partnership with the Government of Andhra Pradesh has created a dashboard for monitoring the real-time progress of the districts
• The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a mass Movement. With States as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.
• Health & Nutrition, Education, Agriculture & Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure are this programme’s core areas of focus.

• The Bogibeel bridge spans the River Brahmaputra between Dibrugarh and Dhemaji districts of Assam and is India’s longest rail-road bridge
• Dhola-Sadiya bridge built over river Lohit, a tributary of River Brahmaputra, links Dhola in Assam to Sadiya in Arunachal Pradesh and is India’s longest river bridge (9.15 km long)

With SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations, 2014, the Government of India merged three investors classes of “FII”, “Sub-accounts” & “QFI” and created “FPI”. The investments are made across a host of the capital market segments, including in shares, debentures, warrants, mutual funds, collective investment schemes, derivatives, treasury bills, commercial paper and government securities. Therefore, statement 1 is correct.

Foreign Institutional Investor (FII): Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are those institutional investors which invest in the assets belonging to a different country other than that where these organizations are based. Only institutional investors like Investment companies, Insurance funds etc. are allowed to invest in Indian stock market directly. However, if foreign individuals want to invest in India’s markets, they have to get themselves registered as a sub-account of an FII.

Qualified Foreign Investor (QFI): A Qualified Foreign Investor can invest in India without sub-account. In order to make investments, they have to open a Demat account and Trade account with a depository participant in India.

An individual FPI cannot own more than 10% of paid up capital in a company (paid up capital – the amount of money company received during IPO). All FPI’s collectively cannot hold more than 24% of paid up capital of a company. Therefore, statement 2 is incorrect