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Streak Daily Compilation of Questions & Videos – Aug 28, 2021
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UPSC PRELIMS-2021 || Current Affairs Based Most Probable Questions – by Sukanya Rana
Q1) Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct with respect to Arctic Amplification.
- The phenomenon highlights that over the past 30 years, the Arctic has warmed at roughly twice the rate as the entire globe.
- Iodic acid (HIO3) is one of the aerosol particles responsible for Arctic Amplification or Arctic Warming.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
Q2) Consider the following statements with respective to Vikas Engine.
- It is a family of Solid-propellant rocket engines which will be used in the Aditya-L1 Mission.
- It is used in both the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are incorrect?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
Q3) Consider the following statements with respect to Man Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM)
- It is a low weight man portable missile which follows fire and forgets principle.
- It has been developed indigenously by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO).
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
Q4) Which of the following is/are the disadvantage/s of 3D Printing?
- More time
- Limited raw materials
- Cybersecurity concerns
- High cost
- Limited size
A. 1, 4 and 5 only
B. 2, 3 and 5 only
C. 1, 2 and 4 only
D. All the above
Q5) Which of the following statement/s is/are correct with reference to “deep fakes”?
- It refers to the practice of setting up fictitious online profiles for luring another person into a fraudulent romantic relationship.
- Using AI algorithms a person’s words, head movements and expressions are transferred onto another person in a seamless fashion.
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC PRELIMS-2021 || Most Probable Questions on Science & Technology by Santosh Gupta
Q1) Consider the following statements regarding PM-Science technology Innovation advisory council (STIAC):
- It is a 20-member committee, chaired by Union Minister of Science & Technology
- It was part of Science technology policy- 2013 but now has been reconstituted
- The body advises the Prime Minister on all matters related to S&T, innovation and monitor the implementation as well.
- PM-STIAC replaced the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) to PM and Cabinet.
Which of the given statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 3 and 4 only
Q2) Which of the following statements is true regarding DNA Technology (Use and Application Bill), 2019?
- The Bill allows for DNA testing in both civil matters and criminal matters
- Written consent is required for DNA samples from criminals for prosecution.
- It allows only to make a DNA database of convicted criminals and the database to be deleted once a sentence is served.
Select the correct code:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 AND 3only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) ALL OF THEM
Q3) Consider the following statements with references to Digital Currencies:
- Digital currency refers to the electronic form of fiat money issued by governments.
- It can also be termed as a Digital Coin.
- It is protected by strong encryption.
- E- RUPI is one such digital currency
Which of the given statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 1 , 2 and 3 only
(d) 1 only
Q4) Consider the following statements regarding ‘Lymphatic Filariasis’:
- It is considered as a ‘Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD)’.
- It is the most disabling disease among people.
- It is a vector-borne disease
Which of the given statements is/are correct?
(a) Only 1 and 2
(b) Only 1 and 3
(c) Only 3
(d) All of the above
Q5) Recently seen in news, consider the following statements regarding Green Hydrogen:
- Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy.
- Electricity splits water into hydrogen and oxygen with Water Vapor as by product.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) None of the above
Daily Dose: Complete Snapshots of Everyday News – by Shweta Mishra
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Agrarian reforms should go beyond meeting demands of the agitating farmers
Context
The farmers’ agitation in India has attracted worldwide attention and support.
Story of land reforms in India
- Being a state subject, various states implemented reforms with varying degrees of effectiveness and equity.
- Objectives: The objectives were the same: Abolition of feudal landlordism, conferment of ownership on tenants, fixing land ceilings, distribution of surplus land, increasing agricultural productivity and production, etc.
- However, owing to manipulations in land records, much surplus land was not available for distribution among the landless tillers.
- Less than one per cent of the total land in the country was declared as surplus.
- The relevant criteria for land entitlement should have been employment and main source of income.
Change in social structure after land reforms
- The ex-tenants, after getting land made use of several programmes —Green Revolution technology, bank nationalisation and priority sector lending, urbanisation and expanding urban markets.
- They cornered a disproportionate share of various subsidies.
- The tenant-turned-capitalist farmers formed political parties, which produced strong state-level leaders, who controlled state-level planning, fiscal policies and politics.
- In place of a strong Centre and weak states, came a weak Centre and strong states.
- Rich farmers have formed strong power blocs, with unquestioned clout and bargaining power, not only in north-western India but also in states like Maharashtra.
Need for agrarian reforms
- Farmers are seeking legal safeguards against market fluctuations, especially against any downward pressure on agricultural prices.
- While they welcome every rise in prices, they demand legal protection against price falls, a legitimate stance.
- Even as agricultural prosperity must be promoted,it should not be just shared between farmers (especially rich ones) and urban consumers, but by all.
- Farm workers, in particular, must benefit from it.
Reforms for farmworkers
- Agricultural land should be pooled and equally distributed among farm households.
- Non-farm households should not be permitted to hold farmland.
- Land reforms should be a central subject; while agriculture can remain a state subject.
- Such a programme will empower and enrich marginalised and excluded individuals and social groups.
- It should be the kernel of a justiciable universal property right that must form an integral/inalienable part of Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution.
Conclusion
The right to life is hollow without a right to livelihood. Through an effective land reforms programme, let’s build a prosperous India based on equity and justice.
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28th Aug 2021 | Geography Test 02
[WpProQuiz 757]
[WpProQuiz_toplist 754]
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Various Funds of Union Government of India and State Governments
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28st Aug 2021
Various Funds of Union Government of India and State Governments
There are three types of funds of the Central Government – Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266), Contingency Fund of India (Article 267) and Public Accounts of India (Article 266) mentioned in the Indian Constitution.
Funds of Government of India
The Indian government’s funds are kept in three parts, which are listed below:
- Consolidated Fund of India
- Contingency Fund of India
- Public Accounts of India
(1) Consolidated Fund of India
- This term derives its origin from the Constitution of India.
- Under Article 266 (1) of the Constitution of India, ‘Consolidated Fund of India’ for the Union Government include –
- all revenues (for example tax revenue from personal income tax, corporate income tax, customs, and excise duties as well as non-tax revenue such as license fees, dividends, and profits from public sector undertakings, etc.) received by the Union government
- all loans raised by the issue of treasury bills, internal and external loans and all money received by the Union Government in repayment of loans
- Similarly, under Article 266 (1) of the Constitution of India, a Consolidated Fund of State (a separate fund for each state) has been established where
- all revenues (both tax revenues such as Sales tax/VAT, stamp duty, etc.. And non-tax revenues such as user charges levied by State governments) received by the State government as well as
- all loans raised by the issue of treasury bills, internal and external loans and all money received by the State Government in repayment of loans shall form part of the fund.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India audit these Funds and reports to the Union/State legislatures when proper accounting procedures have not been followed.
- The government meets all its expenditure from this fund.
- The government needs parliamentary approval to withdraw money from this fund.
(2) Contingency Fund of India
- The Contingency Fund of India is established under Article 267(1) of the Indian Constitution. It is in the nature of an imprest (money maintained for a specific purpose). Accordingly, Parliament enacted the contingency fund of India Act 1950.
- The fund is held by the Finance Secretary (Department of Economic Affairs) on behalf of the President of India and it can be operated by executive action. The Contingency Fund of India exists for disasters and related unforeseen expenditures.
- In 2005, it was raised from Rs. 50 crores to Rs 500 crore.
- Approval of the Parliament of India for such expenditure and for withdrawal of an equivalent amount from the Consolidated Fund is subsequently obtained to ensure that the corpus of the Contingency Fund remains intact.
- Similarly, the Contingency Fund of each State Government is established under Article 267(2) of the Constitution – this is in the nature of an imprest placed at the disposal of the Governor to enable him/her to make advances to meet urgent unforeseen expenditure, pending authorization by the State Legislature.
- Approval of the Legislature for such expenditure and for withdrawal of an equivalent amount from the Consolidated Fund is subsequently obtained, whereupon the advances from the Contingency Fund are recouped to the Fund.
- The corpus varies across states and the quantum is decided by the State legislatures.
(3) Public Accounts of India
- This is constituted under Article 266(2) of the Constitution.
- All other public money (other than those which are credited to the Consolidated Fund of India) received by or on behalf of the Government of India shall be credited to the Public Account of India.
- This is made up of:
- Bank savings account of the various ministries/departments
- National small savings fund, defense fund
- National Investment Fund (money earned from disinvestment)
- National Calamity & Contingency Fund (NCCF) (for Disaster Management)
- Provident fund, Postal insurance, etc.
- Similar funds
- The government does not need permission to take advances from this account.
- Each state can have its own similar accounts.
- The audit of all the expenditure from the Public Account of India is taken up by the CAG
The following table summarizes the three funds:
Fund
Consolidated Fund of India
Contingency Fund of India
Public Account of India
Income
Taxes and non-tax revenue
Fixed corpus of Rs. 500 crore
Public money other than those under consolidated fund
Expenditure
All expenditure
Unforeseen expenditure
Public money other than those under consolidated fund
Parliamentary Authorisation
Required prior to expenditure
Required after the expenditure
Not required
Articles of Constitution
266(1)
267(1)
266(2)
Controller General of Accounts (CGA)
- The CGA is the Principal Accounting Adviser to the Government of India. The office is in the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, GOI.
- CGA is the Principal Accounting Adviser to the Government of India and is responsible for establishing and maintaining a technically sound Management Accounting System.
- It also prepares and submits the accounts of the Central Government.
- It is also in charge of the exchequer control and internal audits.
Functions
- The Office of CGA prepares monthly and annual analyses of expenditure, revenues, borrowings, and various fiscal indicators for the Union Government.
- Under Article 150 of the Constitution, the Annual Appropriation Accounts (Civil) and Union Finance Accounts are submitted to Parliament on the advice of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
- Along with these documents, an M.I.S Report titled ‘Accounts at a Glance’ is prepared and circulated to Hon’ble Members of Parliament.
- It is also responsible for the coordination and monitoring the progress of submission of corrective/remedial action taken notes (ATNs) on the recommendations contained in Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) reports as well as the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) reports through its web-based Audit Para Monitoring System (APMS).
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Live Free Session on Indian Polity Join in 15 Mins || Link Inside || 5 High-Value Topics for Prelims 2021 and How to Simplify Polity for UPSC IAS 2022
Dear aspirants, Click the Youtube Link below.
Polity is the key to success in UPSC, and here’s why:
- Up to 20 questions in Prelims – 40 marks!
- Command over Polity means great writing material in essays.
- The knowledge of polity can be used in GS papers, IR, and national issues.
- Polity concepts are highly useful in writing Ethics answer.
- Master polity and your score can rise by 100 marks in Mains.
- It is easy to master the subject if you know the right tricks!
This is why we believe that all UPSC aspirants who are serious about clearing Prelims in this attempt should know the 5 Most Valuable Topics in polity and the smart way of completing the syllabus in time. And we would like to share these with you for FREE in the upcoming webinar with Sudhanshu Sir.
For example, these are the areas that UPSC has focused on in the previous years:
And where are these questions sourced from?
But what about this year? Sudhanshu sir will explain, in detail, in the webinar.
What can you expect to learn in the webinar?
- 5 Most valuable topics to be covered for Prelims.
- How to complete the Polity syllabus ‘effectively.’
- How to revise the syllabus in record time.
- How to use the knowledge of Polity for better answer writing.
- How to use the knowledge of polity for writing better essays.
- How to make sure you answer ALL the polity questions in Prelims correctly.
- How to use Polity to gain advantage over other candidates.
You can learn all of this and more for absolutely free in the webinar.
DO NOT miss this opportunity to know the right way of completing your Polity syllabus for UPSC 2022. The webinar is absolutely free and you can gain up to 40 MARKS in Prelims by attending this session. But there are just limited slots available so we request you to register now!
Date: 28/8/21
Time: 5:30 P.M.
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30th August 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions
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[WpProQuiz 758]
[WpProQuiz_toplist 758]
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28th August 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions
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[WpProQuiz 756]
[WpProQuiz_toplist 756]
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Asset monetisation — execution is the key
Context
The government has announced an ambitious programme of asset monetisation. It hopes to earn ₹6 trillion in revenues over a four-year period.
About Asset monetisation
- Unlike in privatisation, no sale of government assets is involved.
- The government parts with its assets — such as roads, coal mines — for a specified period of time in exchange for a lump sum payment.
- Asset monetisation will happen mainly in three sectors: roads, railways and power.
- Other assets to be monetised include: airports, ports, telecom, stadiums and power transmission.
- Two important statements have been made about the asset monetisation programme.
- The focus will be on under-utilised assets.
- Monetisation will happen through public-private partnerships (PPP) and Investment Trusts.
Challenges
1) Investors would prefer property utilised assets over underutilised assets
- Suppose an asset is not being used adequately because it has not been properly developed or marketed well enough.
- A private party may judge that it can put the assets to better use.
- It will pay the government a price equal to the present value of cash flows at the current level of utilisation.
- This is a win-win situation for the government and the private player.
- The government gets a ‘fair’ value for its assets.
- The private player gets its return on investment.
- Increase in efficiency: The economy benefits from an increase in efficiency.
- Monetising under-utilised assets thus has much to commend it.
- However, in case of an asset that is being properly utilised, the private player has little incentive to invest and improve efficiency.
- It simply needs to operate the assets as they are.
- The private player may value the cash flows assuming a normal rate of growth.
- The cost of capital for a private player is higher than for a public authority.
- The higher cost of capital for the private player could offset the benefit of any reduction in operating costs.
- The government earns badly needed revenues but these could be less than what it might earn if it continued to operate the assets itself.
- There is no improvement in efficiency.
- The benefits to the economy are likely to be greater where under-utilised assets are monetised.
- However, private players will prefer well-utilised assets to assets that are under-utilised.
- That is because, in the former, cash flows and returns are more certain.
2) Valuation challenges
- It is very difficult to get the valuation right over a long-term horizon, say, 30 years.
- For a road or highway, growth in traffic would also depend on factors other than the growth of the economy.
- . If the rate of growth of traffic turns out to be higher than assessed by the government in valuing the asset, the private operator will reap windfall gains.
- Alternatively, if the winning bidder pays what turns out to be a steep price for the asset, it will raise the toll price steeply.
- The consumer ends up bearing the cost.
- It could be argued that a competitive auction process will address these issues and fetch the government the right price while yielding efficiency gains.
- But that assumes, among other things, that there will be a large number of bidders for the many assets that will be monetised.
3) Life of the returned asset may not be long
- There is no incentive for the private player to invest in the asset towards the end of the tenure of monetisation.
- The life of the asset, when it is returned to the government, may not be long.
- In that event, asset monetisation virtually amounts to sale.
- Monetisation through the PPP route is thus fraught with problems.
Way forward: InvIT route
- Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvIT) are mutual fund-like vehicles in which investors can subscribe to units that give dividends.
- Monetisable assets will be transferred to InvITs.
- The sponsor of the Trust is required to hold a minimum prescribed proportion of the total units issued.
- InvITs offer a portfolio of assets, so investors get the benefit of diversification.
- In the InvIT route to monetisation, the public authority continues to own the rights to a significant portion of the cash flows and to operate the assets.
- So, the issues that arise with transfer of assets to a private party — such as incorrect valuation or an increase in price to the consumer — are less of a problem.
Key takeaways
- Low cost of capital for public authority: In general, due to the low cost of capital for public authority, the economy is best served when public authorities develop infrastructure and monetise these.
- InvIT route: Monetisation through InvITs is likely to prove less of a problem than the PPP route.
- Monetise under utilised assets: We are better off monetising under-utilised assets than assets that are well utilised.
- Monitoring authority should be set up: To ensure proper execution, there is a case for independent monitoring of the process.
- The government may set up an Asset Monetisation Monitoring Authority staffed by competent professionals.
Consider the question “How asset monetisation is different from privatisation? What are the challenges in asset monetisation? Suggest the ways forward.”
Conclusion
Government must pay attention to the challenges in asset monetisation and use it in the proper way to increase the efficiency in the economy.
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