Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 23 August 2020

Q1. Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs in partnership with the Foreign Ministry of Thailand has organized the 6th Round Table of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT). Which of the following statements regarding the AINTT stands true ?

1) The forum serves as a high quality research platform and provides long-term perspectives to further strengthen ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.
2) It was established at the 6th ASEAN-India Summit in New Delhi in 2013.
3) The theme of the 6th Round Table of ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks (AINTT) was 'ASEAN-India: Strengthening Partnership in the Post COVID Era'.

Options :

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above

Q2. The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) represent a group of more than a dozen major chronic infectious diseases, most of them parasitic infectionswith high endemicity in the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Which of the following diseases are classified as NTD’s ?

1) AIDS
2) Malaria
3) Ebola
4) Tuberculosis
5) Leprosy

Options :

a) 1,2 & 3 only
b) 2,3 & 5 only
c) 2,4 & 5 only
d) all the above

Q3. The Supreme Court issued notice on a plea filed by the State of Nagaland for a direction to its Lokayukta to cease exercising his powers and functions and transfer all his work to the Upa-Lokayukta. Which of the following statements with respect to the office of Lokayukta stands true ?

1)The Lokpal is responsible for enquiring into corruption charges at the national level while the Lokayukta performs the same function at the state level.Minimum age of Lokpal (chairperson or member) on the date of assuming office as the chairperson or member should not be less than 45 years.
2) Once appointed, Lokayukta cannot be dismissed nor transferred by the government, and can only be removed by passing an impeachment motion by the state assembly.
3) Karnataka was the first state to introduce the institution of Lokayukta in the country.

Options :

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above

Q4. Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has initiated thorough scrutiny of the cost of production / imports in the country for all fertilizers under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme. Which of the following statements regarding the same stands true ?

1) Due to this initiative of effective monitoring system by the Department,the fertilizer companies have now adopted a voluntary self-regulatory mechanism and as such the benefit of price drop in the international market of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas - RLNG has been passed on to the farmers by the manufacturing companies.
2) RLNG is used as feedstock for production of P&K fertilizers by the manufacturing companies of Diammonium phosphate (DAP), Ammonium Sulphate and other P&K fertilizers.
3) India is the largest producer of nitrogenous fertilizers in the world.

Options :

a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above

Q5. The first-ever State Dragonfly Festival, also known as Thumbimahotsavam2020 will be organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India State unit and Society for Odonate Studies (SOS) in which of the following states ?

a) Karnataka
b) Kerala
c) Gujarat
d) West Bengal

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