Government Schemes and Initiatives Quiz or MCQs for UPSC Civil Services

A Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship of Shri. Kris Gopalakrishnan has been constituted by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in to deliberate on Non-Personal Data Governance Framework. The following are the terms of reference of the said committee:
-To study various issues relating to Non-Personal Data.
-To make specific suggestions for consideration of the Central Government on the regulation of Non-Personal Data.
The committee has recently drafted its report and sought public comments.
-The report attempts to give definition of Non-personal Data and the concept of community data and the appropriate rights and privileges over this data.
-The report recommends the establishment of a Non-Personal Data Regulatory Authority with an enabling role as well as enforcing role.

The China Study Group (CSG) is an informal group constituted in 1997, comprising the Cabinet Secretary, secretaries of Defence and Home ministries, the Army chief, Director of Intelligence Bureau among others.
[A report on ThePrint has different origin time for group: The CSG was set up in November 1975 on the instructions of then-PM Indira Gandhi, comprising the secretaries of external affairs, defence, and home.]
The National Security Advisor convenes its meeting from time to time. The CSG usually monitors the India-China border, assess its management, and help in preparations for negotiations with China on the border question.

All of the above are the functions of the Central Water Commission.
Central Water Commission is a premier Technical Organization of India in the field of Water Resources and is presently functioning as an attached office of the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Its functions include:
-To carry out techno-economic appraisal of irrigation, flood control and multipurpose projects
-To collect, compile, analyse and publish the hydrological and hydro-meteorological data relating to major rivers
-To provide flood forecasting services to all major flood prone inter-state river basins of India
-Monitoring of selected major and medium irrigation projects
-To initiate studies on socio-agroeconomic and ecological aspects of irrigation projects
-To conduct studies on dam safety aspects for the existing dams and standardize related instrumentation for dam safety measures.
Google in association with the Central Water Commission (CWC) have started a flood forecasting initiative. Any user in the affected region having an Android smartphone with location services enabled will receive these alerts.

Statement 1 is correct. National Policy on Education (NPE, 1986) and the Programme of Action (PoA, 1992) spelt out strategic plans for the policies, advocated the establishment of an independent National accreditation agency for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
Consequently, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) was established in 1994 as an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Statement 2 is correct. NAAC conducts assessment and accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) such as colleges, universities or other recognised institutions to derive an understanding of the ‘Quality Status’ of the institution.
NAAC evaluates the institutions for its conformance to the standards of quality in terms of its performance related to the educational processes and outcomes, curriculum coverage, teaching-learning processes, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organisation, governance, financial wellbeing and student services.

The Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry was a long-running inquiry commissioned by the Government of India to investigate the destruction of the Ram Janma Bhoomi-Babri Masjid structure on 6 December 1992.
Headed by Justice M. S. Liberhan, set up on December 16, 1992, the Commission was initially asked to give a report in three months. Extensions were given 48 times, and after a delay of about 17 years, the one-man commission submitted the report in 2009.

Both statements are correct.
The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog has undertaken Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI) exercise to assess different Ministries /Departments’ performance on the implementation of Central Sector Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). It is a self-assessment-based review of data preparedness levels across Ministries / Departments to produce a DGQI score card.
Accordingly, a survey was initiated with the objective of assessing data preparedness of Ministries / Departments on a standardized framework to drive healthy competition among them and promote cooperative peer learning from best practices.
# The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) was constituted in September 2015 by merging the erstwhile Program Evaluation Office (PEO) and the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). It is an attached office under NITI Aayog, aimed at fulfilling the organization’s monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mandate and building the M&E ecosystem in India.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is a statutory body under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
The Commission’s Mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.
Statement 2 is correct. The commission may inquire into complaints and take suo-motu notice of matters relating to-
– Deprivation and violation of child rights;
– Non-implementation of laws providing for protection and development of children;
– Non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed at mitigating hardships to and ensuring welfare of the children and to provide relief to such children.
# NCPCR also monitors the implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

Justice Verma Committee was constituted to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals accused of committing sexual assault against women. The Committee submitted its report in January 2013.
Statement 1 is correct. The Committee rejected the proposal for chemical castration as it fails to treat the social foundations of rape.
Statement 2 is correct. The Committee recommended the amendment of the Representation of People Act, 1951. The Committee was of the opinion that filing of charge sheet and cognizance by the Court was sufficient for disqualification of a candidate under the Act. It further recommended that candidates should be disqualified for committing sexual offences.
Statement 3 is incorrect. It opined that death penalty should not be awarded for the offence of rape as there was considerable evidence that death penalty was not a deterrence to serious crimes. It recommended life imprisonment for rape.

Option 1 is correct. The Malimath Committee (2000) constituted by the Home Ministry on reforms in the Criminal Justice System of India submitted its report in 2003
Option 2 is correct. Ranbir Singh Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws was constituted by the Union Home Ministry in May 2020. This committee is looking into the IPC, the CrPC (the Code of Criminal Procedure), the Indian Evidence Act and the Narcotics Act.
Option 3 is incorrect. Dr K. Kasturirangan Committee was set up to recommend the New National Education Policy of India. The report was submitted in 2019 and the NEP 2020 was notified recently.

Supreme Court’s Road Safety Committee headed the Justice KS Radhakrishnan was formed by the apex court on the basis of a PIL to measure and monitor the implementation of road safety laws in the country.
In its report [2015], the panel has recommended for ban on sale of alcohol on highways, both National and State highways, to curb the menace of road accident.
A total of 151,113 people were killed in 480,652 road accidents across India in 2019, an average of 414 a day or 17 an hour, according to a report by the transport research wing of the ministry of road transport and highways.
According to the report, speeding was the leading cause of deaths, while, in terms of vehicles, two-wheelers were involved in most road fatalities.
India continued to have the most road fatalities in the world, followed by China.

Both statements are correct.
In order to encourage the cities to improve the status of urban sanitation, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) started an annual ranking of the cities in the year 2016. The first Swachh Survekshan conducted in 2016 covered 73 cities and subsequently numbers of cities were added to expand the coverage. This year in 2020 the coverage of the survey includes 4242 cities (including 62 cantonment boards).
Chhattisgarh won the prestigious title of the Cleanest State of India in the > 100 ULB category while Jharkhand was adjudged the Cleanest State of India in the <100 ULB category.
Indore won the coveted title of the Cleanest City of India, Surat and Navi Mumbai won the second and third position respectively (in the > 1 lakh population category).

Option 1 is correctly matched. The National Digital Health Blueprint was prepared by a Health Ministry panel headed by J. Satyanarayana with an objective to create a framework for the national health stack proposed in 2018 by the NITI Aayog.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Union Home Ministry constituted a high-level committee to introduce reforms in criminal laws under the chairmanship of Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University (NLU).
Option 3 is correctly matched. A panel was set up by SEBI in September 2019 under the Chairmanship of Ishaat Hussain to recommend on the norms for setting up Social Stock Exchange in India as declared by Finance Minister in 2019-20 Budget Speech.

Statement 1 is correct. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 mandates for creation of the National Council for Transgender Persons.
The NCT consists of Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson), representative from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, and Human Resources Development, NITI Aayog, and the National Human Rights Commission among others. State governments are also represented.
Further the Council also consists of five members from the transgender community and five experts from non-governmental organisations.
Statement 2 is correct. The council has following functions:
-advising the central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons;
-monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons;
-reviewing and coordinating the activities of all the departments;
-redressing grievances of transgender persons.

The Indian Association of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (IAPPD) recently released the report titled- ‘Status of Sex Ratio at Birth in India’.
It mentions that there has not been any change in the sex ratio at birth in India from 2001-2017–the number of girl children born is much less than what is the general or natural norm.
The Indian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (IAPPD) is a national level Non-Governmental organization.
# Vice-President of India recently Released Two Research Reports of IAPPD, ‘Status of Sex Ratio at Birth in India’ and ‘Elderly Population in India: Status and Support Systems’.

Besides, economic reforms in various sectors, various Committees were set up from time to time (by the Government of India and by RBI) to discuss policy issues related to international trade and balance of payments.
Some of the important Committees were –
• Committee on Export – Import Policies & Procedures (Alexander Committee, 1978),
• Committee on Trade policy (Abid Hussain Committee, 1984),
• High – level Committee on Balance of Payments (Rangarajan Committee 1993), and
• Committee on Capital Account Convertibility (Tarapore Committee I 1997 & Tarapore Committee II 2006).
• In 2003, the Vajpayee government forms a task force under Vijay Kelkar to recommend tax reforms. In 2004, Vijay Kelkar, then advisor to the Finance Ministry, recommends GST to replace the existing tax regime.

The government has set up a working group under Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand to revise the current series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) with base 2011-12 and devise a new Producer Price Index (PPI).
• The group will review the commodity basket of the current series of WPI, suggest changes in commodities in the light of structural changes in the economy witnessed since 2011-12 and decide on the computational methodology to be adopted for monthly WPI/PPI.
• The government had in 2014 constituted a committee under Professor BN Goldar to devise a PPI after the Reserve Bank of India began considering consumer price inflation as a better gauge of inflation than WPI.

India’s richest 1% hold more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up for the bottom 70% of the country’s population, while the total wealth of all Indian billionaires is more than the full-year budget.
• Releasing the study Time to Care, ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), rights group Oxfam also said the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per cent of the planet’s population.
• The report flagged that global inequality is shockingly entrenched and vast and the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade, despite their combined wealth having declined in the last year.

Tamil Nadu has bagged the top position in the composite ranking for good governance index (GGI), followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, according to data provided by the Personnel Ministry.
• The states and union territories have been divided into three groups — big states, north-east and hill states, and union territories — for the rankings based on certain indicators separately.
• The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and union territories, enable them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration.

Healthy States, Progressive India is an annual report of Niti Aayog ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other.
The report has been prepared by Niti Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and technical assistance from the World Bank.

The report of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution red-flagging tap water quality in major Indian cities comes as no surprise, given that many official water distribution agencies routinely advise consumers to consume only boiled water.
• Going by the matrix of tests carried out by the Bureau of Indian Standards for the Ministry, Delhi has abysmal water quality, Chennai and Kolkata rank very low, and Mumbai is the only city with acceptable results.
• City water systems are normatively required to comply with the national standard for drinking water IS 10500:2012, but most obviously feel no compulsion to do so.

The committees/commissions related to De-notified/criminal tribes.
•The Ananthsayanam Ayyangar Committee (gave a comprehensive report on how
CTA worked throughout India), the CTA was repealed in August 1949 and former
“criminal tribes” were de-notified in 1952, when the Act was replaced with the
Habitual Offenders Act, 1952 of Government of India.
•In 2002, Justice Venkatchaliah Commission recommended for strengthening the
programmes for economic and educational development of De-Notified Tribes
(DNTs).
•National Commission for De-notified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes was
constituted in 2005 under the chairmanship of Balkrishna Sidke Renke, to study
the socio-economic conditions of these groups.
•Another National Commission for De-notified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes
chaired by Bhiku Ramji Idate was constituted in 2015 for a three-year period. It
submitted its report viz “Voices of the Denotified, Nomadic & SemiNomadic Tribes”
in 2018.

Statement 1 is correct. The Ministry of Electronics and Information

Technology and NITI Aayog are organizing the RAISE 2020- ‘Responsible AI for Social

Empowerment 2020, a Mega Virtual Summit on Artificial Intelligence-AI from 5th to 9th of

October.

Statement 2 is correct. RAISE 2020 is a global meeting of minds to exchange ideas and

chart a course for using AI for social transformation, inclusion and empowerment in

areas like Healthcare, Agriculture, Education and Smart Mobility, among other sectors.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Kris Gopalakrishnan Committee was

formed in 2019 to recommend on the Non-Personal Data Governance Framework.

Option 2 is incorrectly matched. The Justice BN Srikrishna Committee was constituted by

the Union government in July 2017, to deliberate on a data protection framework. The

committee submitted its report in 2018 also proposed a draft Personal Data Protection Bill.

Option 3 is correctly matched. In July 2018, the NITI Aayog released a proposal document,

National Health Stack (NHS). A committee was formed to create an implementation

framework for NHS as National Digital Health Blueprint, chaired by former UIDAI

Chairman J. Satyanarayana. The committee submitted its report in 2019.

Both statements are correct.

The recent ‘Levels and Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2020’ from UNICEF and

partners in the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), shows

the full scope of child mortality rates across the world – from newborns to adolescents,

including for the first time this year, estimates for youth aged 15–24 years – as well as the

progress made toward meeting the SDG targets by 2030.

The under-five mortality rate was reduced from 93 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to

38 deaths in 2019—a 59 per cent reduction (see Table 1). One in every 11 children died

before reaching their fifth birthday in 1990. By 2019, that number was reduced to 1 in 27.

Nearly half (49 per cent) of all under-five deaths in 2019 occurred in just five countries:

Nigeria, India, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia. Nigeria and

India alone account for almost a third.

The under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India declined to 34 in 2019

from 126 in 1990.

The government has recently set up an expert committee headed by former

comptroller and auditor general (CAG) Rajiv Mehrishi to assess the impact of “waiving

of interest and waiving of interest on interest on the Covid-19-related moratorium” on

the economy and financial stability.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in March this year allowed banks to offer a threemonth

moratorium on principal and interest payments beginning March 1 to provide relief

to borrowers hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. This was later extended by another three

months to August 31.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Global Summit of NRI Researchers called
Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (Vaibhav) Summit is a collaborative initiative by S&T and
Academic Organisations of India to enable deliberations on thought process, practices
and R&D culture with a problem-solving approach for well-defined objectives.
The virtual summit will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 2nd October’2020.
[The Hindu says it is being organized by Department of Science & Technology and Defence
Research & Development Organistaion]
Statement 2 is correct. It is aimed at developing mechanisms for involving Indian Diaspora
working in top universities and R&D organisations across the world, to further enhance the
knowledge-base of Indian Research and Academic Institutions.
Summit aims to give an impetus to the objectives of Atal Innovation Mission by leveraging
the collaborative experience and deep expertise of International and Indian subject experts. Vaibhav summit seeks active support and ideation from Indian Diaspora for developing
skills of Indian aspirants in alignment with the New Educational Policy.

The Institute for Management Development, in collaboration with
Singapore University for Technology and Design (SUTD), has released the 2020 Smart City
Index.
Citizens from 109 cities were surveyed in April and May 2020 and asked questions on the
technological provisions of their city across five key areas: health and safety, mobility,
activities, opportunities and governance.
Singapore has topped the index followed by Helsinki (Finland) and Zurich (Switzerland).
India: Hyderabad; 85th rank (down from 67 in 2019)
New Delhi; 86th rank (down from 68 in 2019)
Mumbai; 93rd rank (down from 78 in 2019)
Bengaluru; 95th rank (down from 79 in 2019).

National Crime Record Bureau has recently released its annual “Crime in
India” 2019 report. Crime rate registered showed an increase from 21.2 (per lakh
population) in 2018 to 22.8 in 2019.
Statement 1 is incorrect. As per the report, crimes against Scheduled Castes went up 7.3
per cent since 2018.
The crimes against women also went up 7.3 per cent in the same period. The crime rate
registered per lakh women population is 62.4 in 2019 in comparison with 58.8 in 2018.
Statement 2 is correct. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of crimes against
women (59,853), accounting for 14.7 per cent of such cases across the country. It was
followed by Rajasthan (41,550 cases; 10.2 per cent) and Maharashtra (37,144 cases; 9.2
per cent).
Assam reported the highest rate of crime against women at 177.8 (per lakh population),
followed by Rajasthan (110.4) and Haryana (108.5).

National Statistical Office (NSO) conducted the first Time Use Survey in
India during January – December 2019 and has recently published the Time Use in India-
2019 report.
The primary objective of Time Use Survey (TUS) is to measure participation of men and
women in paid and unpaid activities. TUS is an important source of information on the time
spent in unpaid caregiving activities, volunteer work, and unpaid domestic service
producing activities of the household members. It also provides information on time spent
on learning, socializing, leisure activities, self-care activities, etc., by the household
members.

The Union Government had constituted an inter-ministerial committee headed by Ashok Dalwai to prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers’ income by 2022. The Committee submitted its final report to the Government in September 2018.
It recommended to place agricultural marketing in the Concurrent list and a greater private sector participation in agri-marketing and logistics. It suggested that farmer producer and village producer organisations (FPO/VPO) could play a critical role in integrating small and marginal farmers into the agricultural market system.

The World malaria report, published annually by World Health Organisation (WHO), provides a comprehensive update on global and regional malaria data and trends. The report tracks investments in malaria programmes and research as well as progress across all intervention areas: prevention, diagnosis, treatment and surveillance.
The World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020 indicates that India has made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden. India is the only high endemic country which has reported a decline of 17.6% in 2019 as compared to 2018.
The Annual Parasitic Incidence (API) reduced by 27.6% in 2018 compared to 2017 and by 18.4% in 2019 as compared to 2018. India has sustained API less than one since year 2012.

The World Trade Report (WTR) is the annual report published since 2003 by the World Trade Organization. Each WTR provides an in-depth analysis of an aspect of trends in international trade, trade policy issues and the multilateral trading system.
The 2020 edition of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) World Trade Report analyzes the adoption of government policies to foster digital innovation and technological progress for economies, and explains the WTO’s role in this changing context.
It observes that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the uptake of digital innovation and e-commerce and led countries to strengthen policies aimed at boosting growth through innovation and technological upgrading

The Global Wage Report 2020-21 released by the Iternational Labour Organisation looks at recent trends in wages, the global economic and labour market context, and the impact that the pandemic has had on wages. The report also includes a number of policy recommendations to mitigate the negative impact of the crisis.
–During 2016-19, the global wage growth fluctuated between 1.6% and 2.2%.
–In the first half of 2020, the average wages in two-third countries fell or grew more slowly due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
–In the remaining one-third of countries — an increase in average wages was observed as the result of a large number of low-paid workers losing their jobs or leaving the labour market.

IIT-Bombay researchers have compiled and released an Urban Quality of Life Index comparing the quality of life in various cities in India and ranked them on the basis of various categories such as water, power, electricity, literacy rate, employment rate among others.
–Mumbai has topped the index followed by Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
–The index has factored in gender parity; Chennai is the most women-friendly city and Patna the least.

The 5th India Water Impact Summit (IWIS), organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and Center for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) began on 10th December with the theme of comprehensive analysis and holistic management of local rivers and water bodies with focus on Arth Ganga – river conservation synchronized development.
The Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) was established at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) in 2016. The Centre is a Centre of Excellence for data collection, the creation and dissemination of knowledge and information for the sustainable development of Ganga River Basin.

The Urban Governance Index (UGI)-2020 have been released recently by the Praja Foundation non-profit foundation. The study for the Urban Governance Index 2020 spanned three years (2017-2020) in 40 cities across 28 states as well as the NCT of Delhi.
Odisha has topped the rankings followed by Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh. The index revealed that Kerala had the most empowered city-elected representatives and legislative structure while Tamil Nadu had the most empowered city administration out of all 29 states.

Statement 1 is correct. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the specialized agency of the United Nations on Telecommunications. India has been a member of ITU since 1869. The ITU has three sectors viz. Standardization, Radio, Development. For Asia Pacific regional coordination, it has a regional office in Bangkok. India is also a Member in the current council.
Statement 2 is correct. The spectrum licenses auctioned by DoT are valid for 20 years and can be renewed by the respective buyers.
The Union Cabinet has recently approved a proposal of the Department of Telecommunications to conduct spectrum auction through which spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing commercial mobile services.
The auction will be for spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz frequency bands. Spectrum will be offered for assignment for validity period of 20 years.

India’s rivers have a heavy metal contamination problem. According to The
Hindu, samples taken from two-thirds of water quality stations on major rivers revealed
the presence of a heavy metal (or in some cases more than one) beyond limits specified by
the Bureau of Indian Standards.
•The Central Water Commission (CWC) collected a total of 442 surface water
samples, of which 287 were polluted by heavy metals.
•“Samples from 101 stations had contamination by two metals, [and] six stations saw
contamination by three metals”.
•The most common heavy metal found was iron, and above safe limits in 156
samples. Lead, nickel, chromium, cadmium and copper were the other metals.

Social Mobility Index is newly compiled, released by the World Economic
Forum ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the WEF in January 2020.
•India has been ranked very low at 76th place out of 82 countries on a new Social
Mobility Index compiled by the World Economic Forum, while Denmark has topped
the charts.
•Measuring countries across five key dimensions distributed over 10 pillars —
health; education (access, quality and equity); technology; work (opportunities,
wages, conditions); and protections and institutions (social protection and
inclusive institutions) — shows that fair wages, social protection and lifelong
learning are the biggest drags on social mobility globally.

The GHI has been brought out almost every year by Welthungerhilfe (lately
in partnerships with Concern Worldwide) since 2000.
•In 2018, India was ranked 103 out of 119 countries. In 2000, the country was
ranked 83 out of 113 countries. Now, with 117 countries in the fray, it has dropped
to 102.
•India is ranked 102 of 117 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2019, behind
its neighbours Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
•It’s GHI score has also decelerated — from 38.9 in 2005 to 32 in 2010 and
then from 32 to 30.3 between 2010 and 2019.
•The GHI score is calculated on four indicators — undernourishment; child
wasting, the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who
have low weight for their height, reflecting acute under-nutrition); child stunting,
children under the age of five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic
under-nutrition; and child mortality, the mortality rate of children under the age of
five.

SDG India Index is a single measurable Index to map the progress of States &
UTs towards 2030 SDGs.
•The index is released by NITI Aayog, it is developed in collaboration with the
Ministry of Statistics &Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
•Kerala tops states in progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goals, while
Bihar is at the bottom of Niti Aayog’s SDG Index.
•Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim have joined all the southern states in the top tier
of front runners who scored more than 65 points, out of a possible 100.

7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) headed by Justice AK Mathur has recommended 23.55 percent hike in pay and allowances of government employees.
In this regard the commission has submitted its report to Union Finance Ministry in New Delhi and the recommended pay revision will come into effect from 1 January 2016.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standard Body of India under the Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. BIS is responsible for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Statement 2 is correct. ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 165 national standards bodies.
BIS is a member of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and through the Indian National Committee (INC) is a member of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). BIS is also a member of regional standards bodies like Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) and South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO).
# The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recently prepared a draft standard for the drinking water supply system, which aims to act as a benchmark for maintaining water quality and developing a uniform process for states opting to implement it.

Statement 1 is correct. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standard Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016 for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, is the ex-officio president of the BIS.
Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) Mobile App named “BIS-Care” has been launched recently to allow consumers to check the authenticity of the ISI-marked and hallmarked products and also lodge complaints using the application.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) is a first of its kind social national initiative by IIT Delhi to strengthen women startup eco system. The initiative is is supported by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
Statement 2 is correct. It attempts to promote entrepreneurship as a viable, fulfilling career option amongst women from a college going student to a middle-aged housewife.
Under the WEE Mentorship Program at IIT Delhi, a batch of 30 women is trained in entrepreneurship every six months. Step by step guidance is provided to strengthen and validate the business idea. Women entrepreneurs are connected to potential investors and buyers for their products so that they can take their business idea to a financially sustainable enterprise.

Both statements are correct.
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) was established in August 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 by the Government of India as a National level Cooperative body.
TRIFED is mandated to bring about socio-economic development of tribals of the country by institutionalizing the trade of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) & Surplus Agricultural Produce (SAP) collected/ cultivated by them.
TRIFED plays the dual role of both a market developer and a service provider, empowering them with knowledge and tools to better their operations in a systematic, scientific manner and also assist them in developing their marketing approach.
TRIFED, under the brand name TRIBES INDIA, markets the handcrafted products directly procured from the tribals in India through its outlets all over India and e-commerce portals

Statement 1 is correct. Handloom Mark is the Government of India’s initiative to provide a collective identity to the handloom products in India and can be used not only for popularizing the hand-woven products but can also serve as a guarantee for the buyer that the product being purchased is genuinely hand woven from India.

Statement 2 is correct. Handloom Mark Scheme is run by the Office of the Development Commissioner (Handloom) and is implemented by Textiles Committee.
The Textiles Committee is a statutory body under the Textiles Committee Act, 1963 with main objective to ensure the quality of textiles and textile machinery both for internal consumption and export purposes.

Both statements are correct.
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, in collaboration with Dell Technologies recently launched the second edition of Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP 2.0) for young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs).
SEP 2.0 will allow student innovators to work closely with Dell volunteers. They will receive mentor support; prototyping and testing support; end-user feedback; intellectual property registration and patenting of ideas, processes, and products; manufacturing support; as well as the launch support of the product in the market.
Under SEP 1.0 (2019), the top 6 teams of ATL Marathon—a nationwide contest where students identify community challenges and create grassroots innovations and solutions within their ATLs—got a chance to transform their innovative prototypes into fully functioning products, which are now available in the market.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) is not a statutory body. It was established by an order of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in 2001 and has been reconstituted twice, in 2010 and 2013.
The NTAGI includes a Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC). The STSC is tasked with undertaking technical review of scientific evidence on matters related to immunization policy and programmes. Final recommendations are drafted by the NTAGI taking into account the scientific review by the STSC and any other relevant evidence.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The NTAGI is not a policy making body in its own right and has no regulatory function.
The overall objective of the NTAGI is to provide advice to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the strategies to control the burden and appropriately evaluate the impact of immunization on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPDs) in the country.
The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 has sought inputs from Standing Technical Sub-Committee of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) regarding the vaccine candidates for COVID-19.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with Piramal Swasthya, the Centre of Excellence has developed this Tribal Health and Nutrition Portal ‘Swasthya’, a one-stop solution presenting all information pertaining to tribal health and nutrition related to Scheduled Tribe people.
It has a dashboard, knowledge repository, partner segment, Sickle Cell Diseases (SCD) support corner. The dashboard presents data curated from multiple sources for the 177 identified high priority tribal districts.
The Portal also has research studies, innovations and best practices on tribal community curated from multiple sources related to tribal health and nutrition.

All of the above are correct statements.
The National Biopharma Mission (NBM) is an industry-Academia Collaborative Mission for accelerating biopharmaceutical development in the country.
The mission will be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). It was approved in 2017 at a total cost of Rs 1500 crore and is 50% co-funded by World Bank loan.
The Government has launched Innovate in India (i3) programme under the mission to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.
The program is promoting entrepreneurship by supporting small and medium enterprises for indigenous product development (Novel Cell lines, indigenously developed Biologics, devices and Raw materials for Biologics manufacturing) and through establishment of shared facilities and Technology Transfer Offices.

Both statements are correct.
Union Minister of Youth and Sports recently launched the nation-wide initiative of Fit India Youth Clubs to promote fitness as part of the Fit India Movement.
Under this initiative, 75 lakh volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and National Service Scheme, along with Scouts and Guides, National Cadet Corps and other youth organizations will come together to register as Fit India Youth Clubs in every block in the country, under the aegis of a district unit.
Members of the club will motivate people from the community to take up fitness activities their daily routine. Additionally, the clubs will organize and encourage schools and local bodies to organize one community fitness programme every quarter.

One of the first initiatives that will be taken up by the Fit India Youth Clubs is to popularise the Fit India Freedom Run, which begins from August 15 to October 2.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Cancer Registry Programme Report 2020 has been released by the National Centre for Disease Informatics & Research (NCDIR)-Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Statement 2 is correct. As per the report, the highest incidence of cancer in India was observed in the north eastern region.
-Cancer of lung, mouth, stomach and oesophagus were the most common cancers in men.
-Cancer of breast and cervix uteri were the most common cancers in women.
-The report estimates that in 2020, tobacco-related cancers are estimated to contribute to 27.1% of the total cancer burden.

Both statements are correct.
The National Technical Textiles Mission with a four-year implementation period from financial year 2020-21 to 2023-24 was launched in February this year.
The Mission will have four components:
-Research, Innovation and Development: Carbon Fibre, Aramid Fibre, Nylon Fibre, and Composites and application-based research in geotextiles, agro-textiles, medical textiles, mobile textiles and sports textiles and development of biodegradable technical textiles.
-Promotion and Market Development: The Mission will aim at average growth rate of 15-20% per annum taking the level of domestic market size to 40-50 Billion USD by the year 2024; through market development, market promotion, international technical collaborations, investment promotions and ‘Make in India’ initiatives.
-Export Promotion: The component aims at export promotion of technical textiles and ensuring 10% average growth in exports per year upto 2023-24. An Export Promotion Council for Technical Textiles will be set up for effective coordination and promotion activities in the segment.
-Education, Training, and Skill Development: The Mission will promote technical education at higher engineering and technology levels related to technical textiles and its application areas covering engineering, medical, agriculture, aquaculture and dairy segments.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Streets for People Challenge is an initiative of the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
Statement 2 is correct. The challenge aims to inspire cities to create walking-friendly streets through quick measures, in response to COVID-19.
As the lockdowns lift, cities face many challenges in providing safe, affordable, and equitable modes of transport that enable social distancing. Limited public transport options, narrow, crowded sidewalks particularly in market places and deterioration of mental health, are key issues that must be addressed on priority.
All cities participating in the challenge shall be encouraged to use the ‘test-learn-scale’ approach to initiate both, flagship and neighbourhood walking interventions.
The interventions can include inter alia creating pedestrian-friendly streets in high footfall areas, re-imagining under-flyover spaces, re-vitalizing dead neighbourhood spaces, and creating walking links through parks and institutional areas.
Fit India Mission, under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, along with the India program of the Institute for Transport Development and Policy (ITDP) have partnered with the Smart Cities Mission to support the challenge.

‘National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-2025′ (NSFE) has been released by RBI recently. It has suggested a multi-stakeholder-led approach for creating a financially aware and empowered India.
The five Cs, outlined by the strategy paper, are: Content, Capacity, Community, Communication and Collaboration.
The document stresses on development of financial literacy content for school children (including curriculum and co-scholastic), teachers, young adults, women, new entrants at workplace/entrepreneurs (MSMEs), senior citizens, persons with disabilities, illiterate people.
NSFE states that the Technical Group on Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy (TGFIFL) would be responsible for periodic monitoring and implementation of National Strategy for Financial Education.
This NSFE for the period 2020-2025, the second one after the 2013-18 NSFE, has been prepared by the National Centre for Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with all the Financial Sector Regulators (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI and PFRDA), DFS and other stakeholders.

Statement 1 is correct. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2019-2024 in January, 2020. It sets forth the vision and objectives of financial inclusion policies in India.
The strategy was prepared by the RBI with inputs from the central government and financial sector regulators (Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India).
Statement 2 is correct. RBI identified six strategic objectives of a national strategy for financial inclusion:
(i) universal access to financial services, (ii) providing basic bouquet of financial services, (iii) access to livelihood and skill development, (iv) financial literacy and education, (v) customer protection and grievance redressal, and (vi) effective coordination.
To achieve this vision, it identified certain milestones such as:
-providing banking access to every village (or hamlet of 500 households in hilly areas) within a five km radius by 2020,
-strengthening digital financial services to create infrastructure to move towards a cash less society by 2022;
-ensuring that every adult has access to a financial service provider through a mobile device by 2024.
# Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently released the National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-25.

In the preamble to the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for the people in India. Therefore, FSSAI has embarked on a large-scale effort to transform the country’s food system in order to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians through the ‘Eat Right India’ movement.
The movement is based on three key themes, ‘if it’s not safe, it’s not food’ (safe food), ‘food should not only serve the palate but is also meant for body and mind’ (healthy diets) and ‘food has to be good both for people and the planet’ (sustainable diets).
# Eat Right Challenge is an annual competition for districts and cities across the country to encourage them to strengthen the food safety and regulatory environment and awareness among consumers to make better food choices.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) is not a statutory body, it was established in 1953 by the Government of India and is operating as a not for profit company under Companies Act 2013.
The primary objective of NRDC is to promote, develop and commercialize the technologies / know-how / inventions / patents / processes emanating from various national R&D institutions / Universities
Statement 2 is correct. It works under the administrative control of the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology.
Recently an Innovation-cum-Incubation Centre has been established jointly by National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) to promote Aerospace engineering start-ups.

The Quality Council of India (QCI).
•The Quality Council of India (QCI) is a pioneering experiment of the
Government of India in setting up organizations in partnership with the Indian
industry.
•A committee which included various interested ministries and stakeholders
including industries was established to make suitable recommendations.
•The work was coordinated by the then Department of Industries (Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion) and the recommendations were submitted to the
Cabinet in 1996.
•Key recommendations included the Need for establishing an organization jointly by
the Government and the industry and the need for the organization to be selfsustaining
and be away from the government.
•Accepting the recommendations, the Cabinet Committee decided to set up
Quality Council of India as a non-profit autonomous society registered under
Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 to establish an accreditation structure
in the country and to spread quality movement in India by undertaking a National
Quality Campaign.
•QCI is governed by a Council comprising of 38 members including the Chairman
and Secretary General.
•The Council has an equal representation of Government, Industry and other
Stakeholders. The chairman of QCI is nominated by Prime Minister of India and
present chairman of QCI is Mr. Adil Zainulbhai.

National Productivity Council of India (NPC), established in the year 1958, is an autonomous organization under Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India (Chairman of NPC).
• Besides undertaking research in the area of productivity, NPC has been providing consultancy and training services in areas of Industrial Engineering, Agri-Business, Economic Services, Quality Management, Human Resources Management, Information Technology, Technology Management, Energy Management, Environmental Management etc., to the Government and Public & Private sector organizations.
• NPC is a constituent of the Tokyo-based Asian Productivity Organization (APO), an Inter-Governmental Body of which the Government of India is a founding member.

National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation(NSKFDC), A wholly owned Govt. of India Undertaking under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (M/o SJ&E) was set up on 24th January 1997 as a Company “Not for Profit” under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
• NSKFDC is in operation since October, 1997, as an Apex Corporation for the all round socio-economic upliftment of the Safai Karamcharis, Scavengers and their dependants throughout India, through various loan and non-loan based schemes.
• Apart from operating various loan and non-loan based schemes for the upliftment of the target group, NSKFDC is playing a vital role in elimination of manual scavenging – the worst surviving symbol of untouchability.
• NSKFDC has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of the Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Statement 1 is incorrect: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission (NCDRC), India is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in
1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. Its head office is in New Delhi.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The commission is headed by a sitting or retired judge of
the Supreme Court of India. The commission is presently headed by Justice R K Agrawal,
former judge of the Supreme Court of India.

The Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body constituted by the
Government of India from time to time.
•The Commission was originally constituted in 1955 and is re-constituted every
three years.
•The tenure of twenty-first Law Commission of India was upto 31st August, 2018.
•The various Law Commissions have been able to make important contribution
towards the progressive development and codification of Law of the country.
•The Law Commission has so far submitted 277 reports.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), established in 1985, is
committed to the cause of Self-Regulation in Advertising, ensuring the protection of the
interests of consumers.
•ASCI was formed with the support of all four sectors connected with Advertising,
viz. Advertisers, Advertising Agencies, Media (including Broadcasters and the
Press) and others like PR Agencies, Market Research Companies etc.
•The Consumer Complaints Council is ASCI’s heart and soul. It is the dedicated work
put in by this group of highly respected people that has given tremendous impetus
to the work of ASCI and the movement of self- regulation in the advertising.

Statement 1 is correct. The Minister of Education recently inaugurated the
Gyan Circle Ventures, a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology funded
Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Sri
City (Chittoor), Andhra Pradesh.
Gyan Circle Ventures would function as a Technology Incubation and Development of
Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) incubation center as approved by the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology (MeitY).
# TIDE 2.0 scheme promotes tech entrepreneurship through financial and technical support to
incubators engaged in supporting ICT startups primarily engaged in using emerging
technologies such as IoT, AI, Block-chain, Robotics etc. in pre-identified areas of societal
relevance.
Statement 2 is correct. The Gyan Circle Ventures will serve as a hub for innovation and
startups by providing support, in various phases, via investments, infrastructure and
mentoring.
The TBI would have an Advisory Committee comprising leading Industrialists,
entrepreneurs and technical experts. It would enable incubatees to leverage these expert
mentors and networks from both academia and the industry.

Jal Jeevan Mission is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking
water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural
India.
The components supported under JJM include:
–Development of in-village piped water supply infrastructure to provide tap water
connection to every rural household
–Wherever necessary, bulk water transfer, treatment plants and distribution network to
cater to every rural household
–Technological interventions for removal of contaminants where water quality is an issue
–Greywater management

Statement 1 is incorrect. Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance
Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of
Biotechnology (DBT) as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging
Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally
relevant product development needs
Statement 2 is correct. The National Biopharma Mission is an Industry-Academia
Collaborative Mission of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India for accelerating
discovery research to early development for Biopharmaceuticals approved by the Cabinet for
a total cost US$ 250 million and 50% co-funded by the World Bank.
It is being implemented at Biotechnology Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). This
program is dedicated to deliver affordable products to the nation with an aim to improve the
health standards of India’s population. Vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics and
biotherapeutics are few of its most important domains, besides, strengthening the clinical
trial capacity and building technology transfer capabilities in the country.

Statement 1 is correct. Telecommunications Standards Development
Society, India (TSDSI) is an industry led not for profit organisation recognised by DoT as
National Telecom Standards Development Organisation (SDO).
TSDSI’s mandate is to reflect India specific requirements in various global standards
forums so as to ensure addressing of these requirements in global standards, including in
upcoming 5G technologies.
It also provides a platform to its members, drawn from industry (operators, manufactures,
designers, and system integrators), academia, R&D, user groups, Govt. and
policy/regulatory bodies to develop and contribute their innovations/IP nationally as well as
at global platforms like 3GPP, ITU etc.
Statement 2 is correct. TSDSI is a constituent Standards Development Organisation (SDO)
of Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) – a voluntary forum of twelve of the world’s
leading information and communication technologies standards organisations.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The National Council of Educational Research
and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation set up in 1961 by the Government
of India to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on policies and
programmes for qualitative improvement in school education.
It is not a statutory body but a society registered under the Societies Registration Act.
Statement 2 is correct. The major objectives of NCERT and its constituent units are to:
-undertake, promote and coordinate research in areas related to school education;
-prepare and publish model textbooks, supplementary material, journals and develops
educational kits, multimedia digital materials, etc.
-organise pre-service and in-service training of teachers;
-develop and disseminate innovative educational techniques and practices;
-act as a nodal agency for achieving the goals of Universalisation of Elementary Education.

Both statements are correct.
The Advertising Standards Council of India, established in 1985, is a Mumbai based self-regulatory voluntary organization of the advertising industry in India. It seeks to ensure that advertisements conform to its Code for Self-Regulation. Under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 it is mandatory for television networks to follow the advertising code laid down by ASCI.
# The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued an advisory asking all private television broadcasters to follow guidelines issued by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) for advertisements relating to online gaming, fantasy sports etc.

The National Water Development Agency (NWDA), a Registered Society under the then Ministry of Irrigation [now Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD&GR) under Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS)] was set up in the year 1982 to carry out detailed studies, surveys and investigations in respect of Peninsular Component under National Perspective Plan (NPP) for Water Resources Development.
Its functions include:
–To carry out detailed studies about the quantum of water in various Peninsular River systems and Himalayan River systems which can be transferred to other basins/States after meeting the reasonable needs of the basin/States in the foreseeable future.
–To prepare feasibility report of the various components of the scheme relating to Peninsular Rivers development and Himalayan Rivers development.
–To undertake/ construct/repair/renovate/rehabilitate/implement the projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY)
–To act as a repository of borrowed funds or money received on deposit or loan given on interest to secure the repayment of any such borrowed funds/money/deposit/loan etc. for the execution of projects.

Sustainable Mountain Development Summit (SMDS) is the Integrated Mountain Initiative’s flagship annual conclave. Each year 3-5 salient themes engaging the immediate attention of and relevant to the mountains and hills are identified for threadbare discussion and debate. Conclusions and recommendations emerging from this exercise would be pursued by IMI subsequently.
The 9th edition of SMDS, being hosted by Sustainable Development Forum Uttaranchal (SDFU), will focus on the overall objective of building pathways toward a resilient and sustainable mountain economy in the IHR in the context of a post COVID-19 scenario and Climate Change.

Statement 1 is incorrect. National Film Development Corporation Ltd. (NFDC), incorporated in the year 1975, (100% owned Central Public Sector Undertaking) was formed by the Government of India with the primary objective of planning and promoting an organized, efficient, and integrated development of the Indian film industry.
Statement 2 is correct. Union Cabinet has recently approved to merge four of its film media units, namely Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archives of India, and Children’s Film Society, India with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Ltd. by expanding the Memorandum of Articles of Association of NFDC, which will then carry out all the activities hitherto performed by them.

Central Water Commission (CWC):
Statement 1 is incorrect: CWC (erstwhile Central Waterways, Irrigation and Navigation
Commission) was established in 1945 by the Government on the advice of Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar, Member (Labour) in Viceroy’s Executive Council.
•The credit for the establishment of CWINC is attributed to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar,
under whose able guidance the then Labour Department constituted the
Commission.
•He not only raised the concept and argued for the necessity of having such a
technical body at the Centre but also laid down its objectives, organisational
structure and programme.
•The final proposal for establishment of CWINC was prepared by the Department
with the help of Rai Bahadur A.N. Khosla, the Consulting Engineer for Irrigation. Dr.
Khosla was subsequently appointed as founder Chairman of the CWINC.
Statement 2 is correct: Central water Commission has divided the country into 20 rivers
basins comprising 12 major and 8 composite river basins.

NOTE: Since then CWC has evolved as a premier technical organisation in the country in

the field of Water Resources and now has entered into 75th Year of service to the nation.

• It is cultivated in Yellapura, Siddapura and Sirsi taluks. Totgars’ Cooperative Sale

Society Ltd., Sirsi, is the registered proprietor of the GI.

• The arecanut grown in these taluks have unique features like a round and flattened

coin shape, particular texture, size, cross-sectional views, taste, etc. These features

are not seen in arecanut grown in any other regions.

Tobacco: Most of the tobacco growing areas are concentrated in Ongole, Kaikalur,

Addanki, Chirala, Giddalur areas of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh.

NOTE: Celery crop is cultivated mainly in the states of Punjab (Jallandhar, Gudaspur and

Amritsar districts), Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh (Ladhwa and Saharanpur districts)

over an area of about 5000 ha. About 90% of the total produce comes from Punjab.

Both statements are correct.
The Ministry of Human Resource & Development recently conducted the first ever Indian Scholastic Assessment (Ind-SAT) Test 2020 under its ‘Study in India’ programme.
Ind-SAT is an exam for grant of scholarships and admissions to foreign students for studying in select Indian universities under the Study in India programme.
The Ind-SAT scores will serve as a criterion to shortlist the meritorious students for the allocation of scholarships for under graduate as well as post graduate programmes under ‘Study in India’ programme.
The Study in India is a programme of MHRD under which foreign students come to study in 116 select higher education institutions in India for under graduate and post graduate programmes.

As per the National Education Policy 2020, in addition to high quality offerings in Indian languages and English, foreign languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level, for students to learn about the cultures of the world and to enrich their global knowledge and mobility according to their own interests and aspirations.

‘Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan’ 2020-21 has been launched recently. VVM is a national program for popularizing science among school students of standard VI to XI, conceptualized to identify the bright minds with a scientific aptitude among the student community.
Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan (VVM) is an initiative of Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA), in collaboration with Vigyan Prasar, an autonomous organization under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), an institution under the Ministry of Education

The Central Advisory Board of Education, one of the oldest and the most important advisory body of the Government of India in education was first established in 1920 and dissolved in 1923 as a measure of economy. It was revived in 1935 and has been in existence ever since.
Statement 1 is incorrect. It is not a statutory body; the current Board has been reconstituted by a Government of India Resolution of October, 1990.
Statement 2 is correct. The Chairperson of the board is Union Minister of Education.
National Education Policy 2020 recommends strengthening and empowering the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE). The remodeled and rejuvenated CABE shall also be responsible for developing, articulating, evaluating, and revising the vision of education in the country on a continuous basis, in close collaboration with MHRD and the corresponding apex bodies of States.

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment. PISA measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.
The study, which began in the year 2000, conducts a test evaluating 15-year-olds in member and non-member countries to assess the quality and inclusivity of school systems in these countries. The PISA test is held every three years.
India has participated in the PISA test only once before, in 2009 and has decided to take part in next PISA, which was due in 2021 but has been postponed to 2022.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) is a joint venture of Ministry of Education, Government of India and Canara Bank.
HEFA is registered under Section 8 [Not-for-profit] under the Companies Act 2013 as a Union Govt company and as Non–deposit taking NBFC with RBI.
Statement 2 is correct. HEFA Vision: To enable India’s premier educational institutions to excel and reach the top in global rankings by financing building world class infrastructure including R&D Infra.
HEFA Mission: To provide timely finance at competitive interest rates for capital assets creation in India’s educational institutions and supplement it with grants by channelizing CSR funds from the corporate and donations from others.

Both statements are correct.
As per the National Education Policy 2020 document; presently, quality ECCE is not available to crores of young children, particularly children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
-To prepare an initial cadre of high-quality quality Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) teachers in Anganwadis, current Anganwadi workers/teachers will be trained in accordance with the curricular/pedagogical framework developed by NCERT.
-Those with qualifications of 10+2 and above shall be given a 6-month certificate programme in ECCE; and those with lower educational qualifications shall be given a one-year diploma programme covering early literacy, numeracy, and other relevant aspects of ECCE.
As per the National Education Policy 2020 document; we are currently in a learning crisis: a large proportion of students currently in elementary school – estimated to be over 5 crore – have not attained foundational literacy and numeracy, i.e., the ability to read and comprehend basic text and the ability to carry out basic addition and subtraction with Indian numerals.
-To this end, a National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy will be set up on priority. Accordingly, all State/UT governments will immediately prepare an implementation plan for attaining universal foundational literacy and numeracy in all primary schools.

Both statements are correct
After a successful launch of a unique initiative to take Artificial Intelligence (AI) to schools through ‘ATL AI Modules’, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog in collaboration with NASSCOM launched the ‘ATL AI Step Up Module’ for students in order to drive AI education and innovation to the next level in schools across the country.
The AI Step-up Module provides a comprehensive set of learn it yourself Advanced modules to those who wish to expand their knowledge base after becoming familiar with the basics of the AI discipline through the AI base module.
The Base module was specifically devised considering students as young as 12 years of age. Step up module has been exquisitely designed and presented to involve young students across the country to induce inclusive learning and to empower youngsters of our country to create AI integrated innovations.

All of the statements are correct.
Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) is an initiative of Ministry of Education (erstwhile Human Resource Development MHRD), Govt. of India.
It systematically ranks all major higher educational institutions and universities in India on indicators related to “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development” amongst students and faculties.
Major Indicators for consideration: Budget & Funding Support, Infrastructure & Facilities, Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation, Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development, Innovative Learning Methods & Courses, Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization and Innovation in Governance of the Institution.
ARIIA 2020 toppers:
-IIT Madras under the category of Institutes of National Importance, Central Universities, and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes;
-Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai under Government and Government Aided Universities;
-College of Engineering, Pune under Government and Government Aided Colleges;
-Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar under Private or Self-Financed Universities
-S R Engineering College, Warangal under Private or Self-Financed Colleges.

Statement 1 is correct. This policy envisages that the extant 10+2 structure in school education will be modified with a new pedagogical and curricular restructuring of 5+3+3+4 covering ages 3-18 as shown in the representative figure:

Statement 2 is correct. A common guiding set of National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) will be developed by 2022, by the National Council for Teacher Education.

The standards would cover expectations of the role of the teacher at different levels of expertise/stage, and the competencies required for that stage. It will also comprise standards for performance appraisal, for each stage, that would be carried out on a periodic basis. The NPST will also inform the design of pre-service teacher education programmes

Union Human Resource Development (now ministry of education ) Minister has launched the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020.
It aims to systematically rank all major educational institutions and universities on indicators related to promotion of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development amongst their students and faculties.

Union Ministry of State for Culture & Tourism has launched the E-Portal of Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’.
• The ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’ is an E-portal that will enable dissemination of cultural education through digital interactive medium into classrooms all over the country.
• The portal will provide a platform for specifically dropout children so that they can join the mainstream and pursue their dreams by making a career out of be it music, painting, or any other art forms.
• For this initiative,CCRT has tied up with Routes 2 Roots, an NGO for connecting seamlessly all the CCRT Regional Centres

The World Bank said its board of executives has approved a new project worth $500 million to improve learning outcome and governance of government schools in six Indian states.
•The project, named STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program), will be implemented through the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, the flagship central scheme, in partnership with Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan.
• “STARS will help improve learning assessment systems, strengthen classroom instruction and remediation, facilitate school-to-work transition, and strengthen governance and decentralized management,” the World Bank said.
• STARS will support India’s renewed focus on addressing the ‘learning outcome’ challenge and help students better prepare for the jobs of the future – through a series of reform initiatives”.
• The STARS program builds on the long partnership between India and the World Bank, since 1994, for strengthening public school education and to support the country’s goal of providing ‘Education for All’.
• Prior to STARS, the Bank had provided a total assistance of more than $3 billion towards this goal.

Statement 1 is correct. Cabinet has recently approved the implementation of
the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) project with a
total project cost of Rs 5718 crore with the financial support of World Bank amounting to
US $ 500 million.
STARS project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under
Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MOE).
Statement 2 is correct. STARS project has separate National and State level implementation components.

It further includes a Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) under the
National Component which would enable it to be more responsive to any natural, manmade and health disasters. It will help the government respond to situations leading to loss of learning such as school closures/infrastructure damage, inadequate facilities and use technology for facilitating remote learning etc.

The Global Education Monitoring Report is released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
Statement 1 is incorrect: HEFA has been set up on 31st May 2017 by the Central
Government as a non-profit, Non-Banking Financing Company (NBFC).
Statement 2 is correct: HEFA was established to mobilize extra-budgetary resources for
building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under Central
Government.
NOTE: The Government has approved the authorised equity capital expansion of Higher
Education Financing Agency (HEFA) to Rs. 10,000 crore, with Government equity of Rs.
6000 crore.
•An amount corresponding to 10% of the Government equity would be contributed by
the partner institution, Canara Bank.
•All Centrally Funded Educational Institutions in Higher Education, School
Education and Medical Education sectors are eligible to avail of loans through
HEFA.

The RISE by 2022 is an attempt to translate the objectives into action plan
by making available resources from the market. The objectives of RISE by 2022 are:
•Qualitatively upgrade the research and academic infrastructure in India to global
best standards by 2022.
•Make India into an education hub by making available high quality research
infrastructure in Indian higher educational institutions.
•To allow access of HEFA funding to institutions like Central Universities, AIIMS,
IISERs and newly created Institutes of National Importance, without creating any
additional burden to the students.
•To bring greater accountability and speed in execution of infrastructure projects
and avoid all cost/time over-runs, moving from the block-grant mode to projectmode
for all infrastructure projects.
•To cater to the requirements of the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya
Vidyalayas, and medical institutions like AIIMSs in a faster time frame.

ASER is a nationwide survey of rural education and learning outcomes in
terms of reading and arithmetic skills that has been conducted by the NGO Pratham for the
last 15 years. This year, the survey was conducted via phone calls, reaching 52,227 rural
households with school age children in 30 States and Union Territories.

Statement 1 is correct. “Unnat Bharat Abhiyan” is a flagship programme of

Ministry of Education conceptualized and launched in IIT Delhi, with a vision of

transformational change in rural development processes by leveraging knowledge

institutions to help build the architecture of an Inclusive India.

Statement 2 is correct. The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT, Delhi) has been

designated as the National Coordinating Institute (NCI) for the UBA scheme.

The UBA aims to enable higher educational institutions to work with the people of rural

India in identifying development challenges and evolving appropriate solutions for

accelerating sustainable growth.

# In a joint initiative of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Unnat Bharat

Abhiyan (UBA), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA), a set of

CSIR Technologies has been launched for rural development.

Scheme objectives have been interchanged in the given statements.

Vigyan Jyoti Scheme is intended to create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls in

high school to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in their

higher education. It also offers exposure for girl students from the rural background to help

to plan their journey from school to a job of their choice in the field of science.

Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN): women scientists are being encouraged to pursue research in frontier areas of science and engineering, on problems of societal relevance and to take up S&T-based internship followed by self-employment.

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), in its 75th round, conducted survey

on Household Social Consumption: Education during 1st July 2017 to 30th June 2018.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The study has pegged the overall literacy rate in the country at

about 77.7%. In rural areas, the literacy rate is 73.5% compared to 87.7% in urban areas of

the country.

At all-India level, the male literacy rate is higher at 84.7% compared to 70.3% among

women.

Statement 2 is correct. Kerala, Delhi has the best literacy rate, followed by Uttarakhand,

Himachal Pradesh and Assam.

Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are the worst performers.

Both statements are correct.

JIGYASA is a student-scientist connect programme of Council of Scientific and

Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathans (KVS). Its objective is to extend the classroom leaning and focusing on a well-planned

research laboratory-based learning.

Student Residential Programmes, scientists as teachers and teachers as scientists, lab

specific activities/Onsite Experiments, visits of scientists to Schools/Outreach

Programmes, science and maths Clubs, projects of National Children’s Science Congress

and tinkering laboratories are some of the activities included under the programme.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Global Summit of NRI Researchers called

Vaishvik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (Vaibhav) Summit is a collaborative initiative by S&T and

Academic Organisations of India to enable deliberations on thought process, practices

and R&D culture with a problem-solving approach for well-defined objectives.

The virtual summit will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 2nd October’2020.

[The Hindu says it is being organized by Department of Science & Technology and Defence

Research & Development Organistaion]

Statement 2 is correct. It is aimed at developing mechanisms for involving Indian Diaspora

working in top universities and R&D organisations across the world, to further enhance the

knowledge-base of Indian Research and Academic Institutions.

Summit aims to give an impetus to the objectives of Atal Innovation Mission by leveraging

the collaborative experience and deep expertise of International and Indian subject experts. Vaibhav summit seeks active support and ideation from Indian Diaspora for developing

skills of Indian aspirants in alignment with the New Educational Policy.

Both statements are correct.

Vigyan Jyoti scheme is intended to create a level-playing field for the meritorious girls in

high school to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in

their higher education. It also offers exposure for girl students from the rural background to

help to plan their journey from school to a job of their choice in the field of science.

Selected students (100 girl students in 550 districts from 2020-2025, chosen based on their

percentile) would be given opportunities to attend science camps at IITs, NITs and other leading institutions of science and technology education where women are not adequately

represented.

The research and innovation investment in India is, at the current time, only 0.69% of GDP as compared to 2.8% in the United States of America, 4.3% in Israel and 4.2% in South Korea. The NEP 2020 has proposed setting up of National Research Foundation (NRF).

The primary activities of the NRF will be to:

–fund competitive, peer-reviewed grant proposals of all types and across all disciplines;

–seed, grow, and facilitate research at academic institutions, particularly at universities and colleges where research is currently in a nascent stage, through mentoring of such institutions;

-act as a liaison between researchers and relevant branches of government as well as industry, so that research scholars are constantly made aware of the most urgent national research issues, and so that policymakers are constantly made aware of the latest research breakthroughs; so as to allow breakthroughs to be optimally brought into policy and/or implementation.

# AICTE is responsible for formulation and maintenance of norms and standards of technical education.

Statement 1 is correct. The Prime Ministers Special Scholarship Scheme aims to build the capacities of the youths of J&K and Ladakh by Educating, Enabling and Empowering them to compete in the normal course. Under the Scheme, the youths of J&K and Ladakh are supported by way of scholarship in two parts namely the academic fee & maintenance allowance.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) is being implemented by the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi.

The ‘State of the Education Report for India 2020: Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), was launched virtually recently by UNESCO New Delhi.
The State of the Education Report for India, is one of UNESCO New Delhi’s flagship reports to be published annually. Its main objective will be to monitor progress towards the education targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The second edition of the State of Education Report focuses on technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
The Report provides an overview of the present capacity for TVET provision through short-term and long-term courses, by state as well as non-state actors, and also through educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities. It discusses previous education policies, and the approach to TVET provision in the light of the priorities of the country as reflected in NEP 2020.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) is a national platform for school education, an initiative of National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT).
DIKSHA was developed based on the core principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing diversity, choice and autonomy as outlined in the Strategy and Approach Paper for the National Teacher Platform
Option 2 is correctly matched. Manodarpan is an initiative of Ministry of Education covering a wide range of activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
Option 3 is correctly matched. The Department of School Education and Literacy has launched a National Mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Programme called NISHTHA.
NISHTHA is a capacity building programme for “Improving Quality of School Education through Integrated Teacher Training”. It aims to build competencies among all the teachers and school principals at the elementary stage.

Statement 1 is correct. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired recently approved major and transformatory changes in the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Post Matric Scholarship to students belonging to Scheduled Castes (PMS-SC)’.
The Cabinet has approved a total investment of Rs. 59,048 Cr of which Central Government would spend Rs. 35,534 Cr (60%) and the balance would be spent by the State Govts. This replaces the existing ‘committed liability’ system and brings greater involvement of the Central Govt in this crucial scheme.
The Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes allows students to pursue any post matric course starting from class 11th and onwards, with the Govt meeting the cost of education.
Statement 2 is correct. The scheme will be run on an online platform with robust cyber security measures that would assure transparency, accountability, efficiency, and timely delivery of the assistance without any delays.
The States will undertake fool-proof verification of the eligibility, caste status, Aadhar identification and bank account details on the online portal.

The National Education Policy 2020 states that:
— High performing Indian universities will be encouraged to set up campuses in other countries
— Those from among the top 100 universities in the world will be facilitated to operate in India. A legislative framework facilitating such entry will be put in place, and such universities will be given special dispensation regarding regulatory, governance, and content norms on par with other autonomous institutions of India.
— Furthermore, research collaboration and student exchanges between Indian institutions and global institutions will be promoted through special efforts.
— Credits acquired in foreign universities will be permitted, where appropriate as per the requirements of each HEI, to be counted for the award of a degree.

Statement 1 is correct. Ayushman Bharat comprises of two inter-related components:
-Health and Wellness Centres: Government has announced the creation of 1,50,000 Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) by transforming the existing Sub Centres and Primary Health Centres.
-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY): It aims at providing a health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to over 10.74 crores poor and vulnerable families.
Statement 2 is correct. Government has notified the COVID- 19 testing and treatment coverage under the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana- PMJAY.

J. Satyanarayana, Former Chairman, UIDAI later chaired the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) Committee.
The National Digital Health Blueprint was prepared by a Health Ministry panel headed by J. Satyanarayana with an objective to create a framework for the national health stack proposed in 2018 by the NITI Aayog. The final report was submitted in October 2019 to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
National Health Stack (NHS) by NITI Aayog has defined clear timelines, targets and the resources required for this digital convergence of healthcare programmes in India. NDHB aims to help in providing a common platform for integration of existing applications in health domain and data which has existed in silos, either in public health facilities, or, in private healthcare facilities, in India.

Proposed by NITI Aayog, National Health Stack (NHS) is to be the digital infrastructure built with the aim of making the health insurance system more transparent and robust, while factoring in the uniqueness of India’s health sector, and the political realities of federalism.
The National Digital Health Blueprint was prepared by a Health Ministry panel headed by J. Satyanarayana with an objective to create a framework for the national health stack proposed in 2018 by the NITI Aayog.
The five key components of the National Health Stack are—
-National Health Electronic Registries: to create a single source of truth for and manage master health data of the nation;
-A Coverage and Claims platform: building blocks to support large health protection schemes, enable horizontal and vertical expansion of Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Mission by states and robust fraud detection;
-A Federated Personal Health Records (PHR) Framework: to solve twin challenges of access to their own health data by patients and availability of health data for medical research, critical for advancing our understanding of human health;

National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) aims to liberate citizens from the challenges of finding the right doctors, seeking appointment with them, payment of consultation fee, making several rounds of hospitals for prescription sheets
Statement 1 is correct. Every person in the country will get a digital health ID which is basically a digital format of all his/her health records which will be linked to the registry of doctors and health facilities across the country.
The platform has been planned to improve efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of health service delivery. The health ID will be in the form of a mobile application of website.
Statement 2 is incorrect. National Health Authority (NHA) will design, build, roll-out and implement the NDHM. The scheme would first be tested in the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.