Current affairs should be organized keeping in mind the syllabus of UPSC IAS prelims and mains. For anyone who is starting his/her preparation, current affairs should be given priority. We will continue to provide the current affairs questions for IAS Prelims 2017 to help you gain a better perception of how questions can be asked in the examination.
Current affair is the most dynamic and challenging portion of the IAS Prelims preparation which should be studied in depth. UPSC IAS prelims preparation requires a deep consolidation and fundamental knowledge of the current happenings.
Q1. Recently India has declared to eliminate the emission of harmful gas HFC-23 BY 2030. Which of the following statements is correct regarding this move?
a)HFC-23 has the global warming potential less than that of CO2.
b)HFC-23 is the byproduct of HCFC which is used as an industrial refrigerant.
c)HFC-23 is potent ozone depleting gas and hence eliminated under Kyoto protocol.
d)All of the above.
Answer: b
Explanation:
HFC-23, a potent greenhouse gas with global warming potential of 14,800 times more than that of CO2, is a by-product of HCFC-22, which is used in industrial refrigeration.
India announced to eliminate the use of HFC-23 by 2013 at a meeting of parties to the Montreal Protocol where final negotiations are taking place to substantially reduce the use of HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons) by 2030.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.
Q2.The noble prize of 2016 in literature has been awarded to Bob Dylan for?
a)For having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.
b)For having created new fusion of western and eastern music to propagate assimilation.
c)For having created a new form of music instrument relevant to all music kinds.
d)All of the above.
Answer: a
Explanation:
The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.
Dylan’s music and lyrics spoke to a generation of people during the tumultuous 1960s and helped galvanize the civil rights movement. His influence continues to permeate through rock, pop and folk music today.
The Swedish Academy regarded him as a great poet in the English-speaking tradition. He drew parallels between his work and that of ancient Greek poets.
CURRENT AFFAIRS OCTOBER 2016 III
Q3. Recently Cabinet has approved revision of ethanol price to facilitate price stability to ethanol suppliers. Which of the following statements regarding the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme are correct?
a)Ethanol blending in petrol is done in order to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions.
b)Ethanol itself burns cleaner and burns more completely than petrol it is blended into.
c)In India, ethanol is mainly derived by sugarcane molasses, which is a by-product in the conversion of sugar cane juice to sugar.
d)All of the above.
Answer: d
Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the mechanism for revision of ethanol price for supply to Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to carry out the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme effectively.
Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme was launched by the Government in 2003 to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels. This intervention also sought to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
It is estimated that a 5% blending can result in replacement of around 1.8 million Barrels of crude oil. The renewable ethanol content, which is a byproduct of the sugar industry, is expected to result in a net reduction in the emission of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC).
Ethanol itself burns cleaner and burns more completely than petrol it is blended into. In India, ethanol is mainly derived by sugarcane molasses, which is a by-product in the conversion of sugar cane juice to sugar.
Q4. The special investigation team (SIT) on black money has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to furnish the details of all those investing through participatory notes (P-Notes). Consider the following statements regarding P-Notes:
1.P-Notes allow foreign investors to take exposure to Indian stocks without registering with Sebi.
2.P-Note instrument are issued by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) registered with Sebi.
Choose the correct answer:
a)Only 1
b)Only 2
c)Both 1 and 2
d)None of the above.
Answer: c
Explanation:
Participatory notes are financial instruments used by investors that are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to invest in Indian securities.
Any dividends or capital gains collected from the underlying securities go back to the investors. Indian regulators are against participatory notes because they fear that hedge funds acting through participatory notes will cause economic volatility in India’s exchanges.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) provide quick money entering the Indian capital market. Because of the short-term nature of investing, regulators have fewer guidelines for FIIs.
To invest in Indian stock markets without the hassle of involvement with the regulatory approval process, FIIs trade P-notes.
Q5. Which of the following statements is correct regarding the Women of India Festival 2016?
a)The Women of India Festival is Organized and sponsored by the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development.
b)The Women of India Festival is intended to highlight the successful start ups by women across India.
c)The Women of India Festival 2016 celebrates and promotes women entrepreneurs from across India.
d)Both (a) and (c).
Answer: d
Explanation:
Women of India Festival 2016 of organic products by women will offer on sale the biggest selection of organic products ranging from food, fabrics and furniture to wellness, personal care and solar products.
–>Organized and sponsored by the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development, the ‘Women of India Festival 2016’celebrates and promotes women entrepreneurs from across India.
–>Participants from the remotest areas of the country will travel to Delhi for the entire duration of the festival and sell their unique products in the capital.
–>The Women of India Festival is intended to highlight the health and environmental advantages of organic goods.
–>It provides a platform for women engaged in this economy and encourage the development of sustainable and easily accessible sales outlets for organic producers from remote areas.
–>Organic plants and food crops have also been found to contain higher amounts of salicylic acid which fights bowel cancer; it helps to fight stress and disease.
Q6. The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016 was awarded jointly to Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström for?
a) For their contributions to contract theory.
b) For deducing new formulae to compute HDI.
c) For giving new definition to social indexes.
d)All of the above.
Answer: a
Explanation:
Contract theory studies how economic actors can and do construct contractual arrangements, generally in the presence of asymmetric information. A standard practice in the microeconomics of contract theory is to represent the behavior of a decision maker under certain numerical utility structures, and then apply an optimization algorithm to identify optimal decisions.
Contract theory has had a deep and lasting impact on many fields of economics and other social sciences from corporate governance to constitutional law and politics.
The recent awardees research has helped to formulate theoretical tools to analyze both financial terms as well as allocation of control rights, property rights and decision rights in contracts.
