MGNREGA is in the news these days as it is running out of funds. According to the report published in a national daily more than 96 percent of the sanctioned money has been spent. An amount of 60,000 crores was allocated for MGNREGA in the proposed budget for the year 2019-20. The amount of 2500 thousand crores, allocated for the scheme, is yet to be received, while it will take another two months to release the new amount. According to the financial statement of the scheme, fifteen such states have been identified whose dues are to be paid by the central government by January 26, 2020.

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1. What is the full form of MGNREGA? (a) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

(b) Mahatma Gandhi National Regional Employment Guarantee Act

(c) Mahatma Gandhi National Reputed Employment Gateway Act

(d) Mahatma Gandhi Natural Rural Employment Guarantee Act 3

2. Consider the following statements

i. MGNREGA fulfills the constitutional rights in India.

ii. MGNREGA is to be implemented mainly by gram panchayats.

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Which of the following statements given above is/are correct?

(a)i. only

(b) ii only

(c) Both i and ii

(d) Neither i nor ii

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3. When was MGNREGA enacted?

(a)7th September, 2005

(b) 2nd October 2005

(c) 26th January 2006

(d) 15th August 2007

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4. According to the report published recently in a national daily about MGNREGA, which of the following statements is not correct?

(a)An amount of 60,000 crores was allocated for MGNREGA in the proposed budget for the year 2019-20.

(b) The amount of 2500 thousand crores, allocated for the scheme, is yet to be received.

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(c) 15 states have been identified whose dues are to be paid by the central government by January 26, 2020.

(d) Bihar has been listed as the highest outstanding state with ‘Negative Net Balance’ with dues of Rs 620 crore.

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4. Which of the followings is not among the Roles of Gram Panchayat in MGNREGS?

(a)Receiving applications for registration

(b) Verifying registration applications

(c) Issuing Job Cards(JCs)

(d) Monitor the execution of works within the Grampanchayat

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On the occasion of Good Governance Day, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has released the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), during an event organized at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Out of 17.87 Crore Indian rural households, there are 14.6 Crore households that do not have a household water tap connection facility. They account for 81.67%. On the financing front, Centre will provide Rs.2.08 lakh Crore while the fund sharing pattern to be 90:10 for Himalayan and North-Eastern States; 50:50 for other States and 100% for UTs.

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1. When Good Governance Day is celebrated?

(a)15th December

(b) 25th December

(c) 15th January

(d) 20th January

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2. When did Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme launched?

(a)1972

(b) 2004

(c) 2009

(d) 2014

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3. Which of the following statements about Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is not correct?

(a)National Rural Drinking Water Programme(NRDWP) has been restructured and subsumed into Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

(b) JJM is to provide Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) to every rural household i.e., Har Ghar Nal Se Jal (HGNSJ) by 2024.

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(c) The goal of JJM is to provide functional household tap connection to every household with service level at the rate of 55 litres per capita per day (lpcd).

(d) Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programmewas renamed as National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in 2014.

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4. What is the fund sharing pattern of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) between Center & states?

(a)50:50

(b) 90:10

(c) 80:20

(d) 100:01

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5. What is the full form of ‘SWSM’?

(a)State Water and Sanitation Mission

(b) Save Water and Save man

(c) Save Weather and Save man

(d) State Water and Sanitary Mission

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The Union Cabinet has approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which will amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971. The cabinet approved the bill on January 29, 2020 under the chairmanship of PM Narendra Modi. The bill will be introduced in the upcoming budget session of the Parliament, which will begin on February 1, 2020.

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1. When Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was approved by the cabinet?

(a)January 10, 2020

(b) January 20, 2020

(c) January 25, 2020

(d) January 29, 2020

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2. Which amendment act is being amended by Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020?

(a)Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1961

(b) Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971

(c) Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1984

(d) Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 2009

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3. Which of the followings is not among the features of proposed Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020?

(a)Enhancing the upper gestation limit from 15 to 20 weeks for special categories of women.

(b) Special categories of women as defined in this Bill include ‘vulnerable women including survivors of rape, victims of incest.

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(c) Upper gestation limit not to apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board.

(d) The composition, functions and other details of Medical Board to be prescribed subsequently in Rules under the Act.

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4. Which of the following statements about The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971is not true?

(a)It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir and north eastern states.

(b) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

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(c) In this act ‘guardian’ has been defined as a person having the care of the person of a minor or a lunatic.

(d) “Lunatic” has the meaning assigned to it in Sec.3 of the Indian Lunacy Act, 1912.

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5. If the pregnancy of a woman is within the first trimester (within 12 weeks), for medical termination of pregnancy (MTP)

(a)opinion of one doctor is necessary

(b) opinions of two doctors are necessary

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(c) opinion of a medical board with more than two doctors is necessary

(d) permission from the local civil court is necessary

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MAC-BINDING

• While restoring internet connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir rules specified that Internet connectivity will be made available “with mac-binding”.

• Every device has a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a hardware identification number that is unique to it. While accessing the Internet, every device is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address.

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• Mac-binding means binding together the MAC and IP addresses, so that all requests from that IP address are served only by the computer having that particular MAC address.

• It means that if the IP address or the MAC address changes, the device can no longer access the Internet.

• Also, monitoring authorities can trace the specific system from which a particular online activity was carried out.

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GLOBAL HYPERLOOP POD COMPETITION

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras is organizing India’s first Global Hyperloop Pod Competition to increase awareness and enthusiasm about Hyperloop in India.

• Hyperloop is the 5th mode of transportation (other 4 includes railways, roadways, airways, waterways), a high-speed train that travels in a near-vacuum tube.

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It is all about removing the two things that slow down regular vehicles: friction and air resistance.

✓ To do away with the former, the pod hover above its track, like a magnetic levitation train.

As for air resistance, that’s where the tube comes in.

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The reduced air resistance allows the capsule inside the tube to reach speeds of more than 1000 km/h, conveying people or objects at high speed while being very efficient, thereby drastically reducing travel times over medium-range distances.

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• It is completely autonomous, safe, clean and enclosed. More importantly, Hyperloop is environment friendly and doesn't call for much maintenance too.

• Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, proposed the idea of Hyperloop to the world in 2013.

• Hyperloop is among 6 new proposals for Public Transportation System, cleared by NITI Aayog in 2017. Other five includes metrino, stadler buses, pod taxis, hybrid buses and freight rail road.

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SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE (NAOCL)

• It is a compound used for water purification and largely for surface purification, bleaching, odour removal and water disinfection.

• It is used on a large scale in agriculture, chemical industries, paint- and lime industries, food industries, glass industries, paper industries, pharmaceutical industries, synthetics industries and waste disposal industries.

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BLISSFUL HYGIENE OFFERING TO GOD (BHOG)

• Recently, Tamil Nadu Food Safety and Drug Administration has recently asked the temple administrators to obtain BHOG certificate from FSSAI.

• It is an initiative by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), launched in 2018, to encourage Places of Worship (PoW) to adopt and maintain Food Safety and hygiene in preparation, serving and sale of prasad along with training of food handlers for basic food safety and hygiene.

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• Under the initiative, places of worship where food is cooked/handled are identified, audit is conducted and basic training of food handlers is done.

• After the successful audit of the PoW it becomes recognized and certified.

• It is a part of the Eat Right initiative of FSSAI, which aims to improve public health and combat negative nutritional trends to fight lifestyles diseases.

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About FSSAI

• It is an autonomous statutory body established under Food Safety and Standards, 2006 which consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments.

• FSSAI has been created for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.

• Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is the Administrative Ministry for the implementation of FSSAI.

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NAVROZ

• Recently, Navroz festival was celebrated by the Parsi community in India.

• Navroz (‘New Day’) is the Parsi New Year, Iranian New Year or the Persian New Year.

• It is a holy festival for the Zoroastrians and is also celebrated among some Muslim and Iranian communities.

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• It marks the first day of spring, and it usually takes place on March 21.

• It is celebrated among the Parsi community by conducting spring cleaning (known as Pateti) a day before Navroz, dressing up in their traditional attire, decorating their homes with lights and rangoli and preparing traditional Parsi dishes.

• Parsis also visit the Agiary or the Fire Temple and offer fruits, sandalwood, milk and flowers to the fire on this auspicious day.

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• To Zoroastrians, Fire plays a central role in worship as a symbol of truth and the spirit of God.

• It is also known as "Jamshedi Navroz” after the legendary King of Persia Jamshed who started the Parsi calendar.

• In the 18th century, a rich tradesman from Surat, NusservanjiKohyaji brought the festival to India from Iran. Over a period of time, the festival was introduced in India on a wide scale by members of the Parsi community.

• It was inscribed in the list of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.

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Other Festivals celebrating New Year

• Navreh (Kashmiri New year)

• Losar (Tibetan New Year)

• Rongali Bihu (Assamese New Year)

• Baisakhi (Punjabi New Year)

• Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year)

• Gudi padwa (Marathi & Konkani New Year)

• Puthandu (Tamil New Year)

• Pana Sankranti (Odia New Year)

• Ugadi (Telugu New Year)

• Vishu (Malayali New Year)

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