General Knowledge (Part-3) (CDS-Solved Paper)

Geoffrey Key in his book ‘Development and Underdevelopment: A Marxist Analysis’ argued that capital created underdevelopment not because it exploited the underdeveloped world, but because it did not exploit it enough.

The All India Services comprises of Civil Services of India, namely IAS, IPS and IFS (Indian Forest Service). Article 312 provides for the creation of All India Services.

The Article provides that an All India Service can be created only if the council of states declares by a resolution supported by not less than a two-thirds majority that it is necessary in the national interest to create one or more such All India Services. Hence, option (a) is correct.

The National Handloom Day is being observed every year on 7th August to honour the handloom weaves in the country and also carter an impetus to India’s handloom industry.

The celebration of the day seeks to highlight the contribution of handloom to the socio-economic development of the country and promote handlooms to increase income of weavers and also enhance their pride.

World Environment Day which is observed on 5th June every year across the globe is the largest annual event for positive environmental action. It was inaugurated in 1972 following the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden.

The theme for 2017 is ‘Connecting People to Nature’. The theme for World Environment Day 2017, implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and its importance and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share. The theme for 2019 is ‘Air Pollution’.

INSV Tarini is the second sailboat of the Indian Navy. It is a cruising sloop built at the Aquarius Shipyard in Divar, Goa. Navika Sagar Parikrama is the name of expedition for circumnavigation the globe on INSV Tarini by Indian Navy’s Women Naval Officers.

The six member all-woman team circumnavigated and managed the whole operation in their first ever global journey. The voyage was finished around March 2018, with only 4 port calls in Fremantle, Lyltelton, Port Stanley and Cape Town.

In August 2017, India signs Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grant Agreement with the World Bank for USD 24.64 Million for “Ecosystems Service Improvement Project”. The project’s duration is 05 years. Hence, statement (b) is incorrect.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF and CC) will implement the project in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh through Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education under the National Mission for Green India.

The objective of the project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Departments of Forestry and Community Organisations to enhance forest ecosystem services and improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Central Indian Highlands.

National Highways Authority has recently launched the mobile app My FASTag for easy access of this facility. It would be a perfect solution for a hassle free trip on national highways.

FASTag is a simple to use, reloadable tag which enables automatic deduction of toll charges and lets you pass through the toll plaza without stopping for the cash transaction. FASTag is linked to a prepaid account from which the applicable toll amount is deducted.

The tag employs Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and is affixed on the vehicle's windscreen after the tag account is active.

Air Quality Index (AQI) is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms, which are easy to understand. It transforms complex air quality data of various pollutants into a single number (index value), nomenclature and colour.

It includes eight pollutants namely (PM10, PM2.5, NO₂, SO₂, CO, O₃, NH₃, and Pb) for which short-term (upto 24-hours) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
Hence methane is not included in National Air Quality Index.

Sensitive data related to India’s Scorpenel submarines has been leaked, with French shipbuilder DCNS, which designed the submarine, facing a leak of documents spreading over 22000 pages.

INS-Kalvari, first of the Scorpene-class submarines, is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy later this year.

PV Sindhu, at 21, became the youngest to win an Olympic Medal a silver, which was never achieved in badminton; and Sakshi’s bronze was also a first for women’s wrestling.