സിവില്‍ സര്‍വ്വീസ് പരീക്ഷ; എന്താണ് നീല ആധാര്‍ ?

Answer (a)

•    Richard Thaler bagging this year’s Economics Nobel for his work on behavioral economics has shone the spotlight on the ‘Nudge Theory. Humans, being not-so-rational, often need encouragement or intervention— a nudge — to get going and do what’s best for the country or society at large. The ‘Nudge Theory’ recognizes this behavioral trait. It says that people, rather than being forced, can be encouraged and influenced to pursue or desist from certain actions through nudges. The Government’s
Swachh Bharat drive could benefit from nudging people into understanding the ill effects of unclean surroundings.
•    Engel's Law is an economic theory introduced in 1857 by Ernst Engel, a German statistician, stating that the percentage of income allocated for food purchases decreases as income rises. As a household's income increases, the percentage of income spent on food decreases while the proportion spent on other goods (such as luxury goods) increases. Engel'sLaw similarly states that lower-income households spend a greater proportion of their available income on food than middle- or higher-income households.
•    The Phillips curve is an economic concept developed by A. W. Phillips showing that inflation and unemployment have a stable and inverse relationship. The theory states that with economic growth comes inflation, which in turn should lead to more jobs and less unemployment. However, the original concept has been somewhat disproven empirically due to the occurrence of stagflation in the 1970s, when there was high levels of both inflation and unemployment.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. Fiscal means are related to expenses and receipts of the Government. Fiscal policy is the means by which the government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation’s economy. The main objectives of the government's fiscal policy are Economic Growth (Stabilisation of business cycles), Maintaining a high level of employment, and controlling inflation.

Statement 2 is not correct. RBI deals with monetary policy but not fiscal policy. However, the RBI helps the government to implement fiscal policy effectively.

Answer (b) 

Statements 1 and 2 are correct. It means Indian Federation is not coming together of states (agreement) but holding together of states. Here, power flows from the Union and not from the states. Therefore, Indian federalism is also called as centripetal federalism where power is more towards the Union. India is also called as “Indestructible Union of destructible states.”

Statement 3 is incorrect. Parliament can alter state borders and change its name.

Answer (d)

Provisions of constitution supporting cooperative federalism are:
o    Concurrent list
o    All - India Services
o    Part IV 
o    Mutual Delegation - Article 258 & Article 258A
o    Immunity of instrumentalities - Article 285 & Article 289
o    Article 270
o    Article 261
o    Article 355
o    Article 263
o    Article 252

Answer (d)

All the statements are correct.

•    Acid rain refers to any precipitation (rain, fog, mist, snow) that is more acidic than normal (pH of less than 5.6. pH below 7 is acidic).
•    Acid rain is caused by atmospheric pollution from acidic gases such as sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emitted from the burning of fossil fuels.
•    It is also recognized that acidic smog, fog, mist, move out of the atmosphere and settle on dust particles which in turn accumulate on vegetation as acid depositions.
•    Acid precipitation affects both aquatic and terrestrial organisms.
•    It also damages buildings and monuments.
•    The impact of acid rain on soil is less in India; because Indian soils are mostly alkaline, with good buffering ability.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. Earth’s vegetated lands have shown significant greening largely due to rising levels of atmospheric CO2.
o    Greening means an increase in leaves on plants and trees.
o    Increased concentrations of CO2 increase photosynthesis, spurring plant growth.
o    Carbon dioxide fertilization contributes to 70 percent of the greening effect.
Statement 2 is not correct. Plants acclimatize to rising CO2 concentration and the fertilization effect diminishes over time. That is, rising CO2 concentrations may be beneficial for plants in the short run, but in the long run, it is harmful due to climate change.

Answer (a)

•    Researchers from the World Mosquito Program have used mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria to successfully control dengue in Yogyakarta city of Indonesia.
•    Wolbachia is natural bacteria present in up to 60% of insect species, including some mosquitoes.
•    However, Wolbachia is not usually found in the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary species responsible for transmitting human viruses such as Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Wolbachia is safe for humans, animals, and the environment.
 

Answer (d)

•    ‘SATAT’ scheme on Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) encourages entrepreneurs to set up CBG plants, produce & supply CBG to Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for sale as automotive & industrial fuels.
•    ‘SATAT’ stands for Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation and is implemented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
•    Advantages
o    Developmental effort to benefit vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs.
o    Efficient tackling of urban air pollution due to farm stubble-burning and carbon emissions.
o    Reduce dependency on crude oil imports and realize PM’s vision of enhancing farmers’ income, rural employment, and entrepreneurship
o    Efficient treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste
o    Promotion of organic farming by using Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) produced from CBG plants.

Answer (b)

Statement 1 is not correct. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal authority for issuing Aadhaar cards has a rollout ‘Bal Aadhaar’, meant for kids under 5 years of age. It is also known as "Blue Aadhar". 
Blue Aadhaar literally means Kid’s Aadhaar. It will have a blue color to differentiate it from regular Aadhaar. It will be linked with one of the parent’s Aadhar.
Statement 2 is correct. Blue Aadhaar will have no biometric identification, like Iris scan or fingerprint scans, as their parents will be accompanying their ward when such identification is required. 
The first mandatory biometric update is required at the age of five to include a child's biometric information like fingerprints and iris scans. The second mandatory biometric update is required at the age of 15.

Answer (a)

Statement 1 is correct. Based on the replacement period, a nutrient cycle is referred to as the Perfect or Imperfect cycle. A perfect nutrient cycle is one in which nutrients are replaced as fast as they are utilized.

Statement 2 is not correct. Most gaseous cycles are generally considered as perfect cycles. In contrast, sedimentary cycles are considered relatively imperfect, as some nutrients are lost from the cycle get locked into sediments and so become unavailable for immediate cycling.

Statement 3 is not correct. Based on the nature of the reservoir, a nutrient cycle is referred to as the Gaseous or Sedimentary cycle.
•    Gaseous Cycle: The reservoir is the atmosphere, hydrosphere — water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, etc.
•    Sedimentary Cycle: the reservoir is the earth’s crust (soluble elements mostly found in earth’s crust) — phosphorous cycle, sulfur cycle, calcium cycle, magnesium cycle, etc.