COMPETITION FOCUSINJanuary 2018

NRIs, PIOs Dont Need to LinkBank Account, PAN withAadhaarThe Unique Identification Authority ofIndia (UIDAI) said on November 17,2017 that NRIs and PIOs are notrequired to link bank accounts and otherservices with Aadhaar. UIDAI instructedvarious implementation agencies towork out a mechanism to verify thestatus of such individuals.

Prevention of Money laundering Rules2017 and the Income Tax Act clearlystipulate that the linking of bankaccounts and PAN respectively, ‘is forthose persons who are eligible to enrolfor Aadhaar’.

All central ministries and departments,state governments and otherimplementation agencies should bear inmind that Aadhaar as an identitydocument can be sought only from thoseeligible for it under Aadhaar Act, andthat most NRIs/PIOs/ OCIs may not beeligible for its enrolment.

The UIDAI said several representationshad been received about problems facedby Non Resident Indians (NRIs), Personof Indian Origin (PIOs) and OverseasCitizens of India (OCI) where Aadhaarwas being demanded with regard tovarious services and benefits. It hasfurther instructed the implementingagency to device a mechanism ‘toascertain the genuineness of status ofsuch NRIs/PIOs/OCIs’.

Government Sets MinimumBalance in Bank Accounts asRural Poverty MeasureThe government set minimum amount of` 10000 at the bank accounts of familiesin a rural set up to determine the level ofpoverty in a gram Panchayat. The morethe number of families with such aminimum balance, the better apanchayat's chance of being on thepositive list of the poverty index.

Under Mission Antyodaya, whosemission is to create 50000 poverty-freepanchayats, there are 21 parameters tomeasure the economic status of anygram panchayat. Government hascompartm ntalized the parameters intothree broad levels of assessment, basedon ‘infrastructure’, ‘social developmentand protection’ and ‘economicdevelopment and diversification oflivelihoods’.

Parameters Under Missionl This minimum balance threshold is one

of several metrics that will be used tomeasure the economic condition in avillage.

l A panchayat's economic well-being willbe directly proportional to the numberof women workers or self-employedwomen, or the percentage ofhouseholds with LPG connections.

l Other key parameters include at least12-hour daily power supply, internetconnectivity or minimal opendefecation.

17

Economic Scenario

Logistics Sector gotInfrastructure StatusTo attract more investments intotransport and logistics as part ofefforts to bolster infrastructuredevelopment in the country,Government of India has giveninfrastructure status to logisticssector on November 20, 2017.The infrastructure status alsoextends to cold chain andwarehousing facilities.

Logistics costs of exports are veryhigh in India and due to this,Indian goods are less competitivein global markets. Having theinfrastructure status would helpthe logistics sector get credit atcompetitive rates and on a long-term basis as rising logistics costimpacts global competitiveness ofexporters.

New Notificationl Logistics infrastructure

includes ‘Multimodal LogisticsPark comprising InlandContainer Depot (ICD) withminimum investment of ` 50crore and minimum area of 10acre’.

l Further, a coldchain facilityhaving aninvestment ofat least ` 15crore as wellaswarehousingfacility withinvestment of minimum ` 25crore would come underlogistics infrastructure.

l In both cases, the facilitiesshould also have a minimumrequired area.

l Amending the existingframework, Department ofEconomic Affairs (DEA) haswidened the category ofinfrastructure sub-sectors to‘transport and logistics’ fromthe earlier sub-head of‘transport’.

l The DEA, comes under thefinance ministry has updatedthe 'Harmonised Master List ofInfrastructure Sub-sectors'.

l Besides transport and logistics,the list comprises energy,water and sanitation,communication, social andcommercial infrastructure.

A medical student Manushi Chhillarcrowned the 54th Miss World 2017 onNovember 18, 2017. She waspreviously crowned Femina Miss India2017. She became the sixth Indianwoman to win Miss World title.

Her BackgroundManushi Chhillar belongs to Sonipat,Haryana, but resides in New Delhi.Her father, Dr. Mitra Basu Chhillar, isa scientist at the Defence Researchand Development Organisation(DRDO), while her mother, Dr.Neelam Chhillar, is an associateprofessor and department head ofneurochemistry at the Institute ofHuman Behaviour and Allied Sciencesin New Delhi.

Manushi Chhillar is pursuing amedical degree at the Bhagat PhoolSingh Medical College in Sonipat. Sheis a trained Kuchipudi dancer, and hastrained under legendary dancersRadha Reddy and Kaushalya Reddy.

Chhillar has also attended theNational School of Drama. She hasbeen actively associated women’ssafety and empowerment and hasstarted a programme called ‘ShaktiProject’, through which women aremade aware of hygiene duringmenstruation. She has changed thelives of 5000 women by visiting morethan 20 villages.

Her Achievement inBeauty PageantryManushi Chhillar representedHaryana in the Femina Miss India2017 competition, which was held onJune 25, 2017. During thecompetition, Chhillar was crownedMiss Photogenic, and went on to winthe competition as well, earning theright to represent India at the MissWorld 2017 competition.

At Miss World 2017, Chhillar becamea semifinalist in the Top Model,

People's Choice, and Multimediacompetitions, while she was a winner

of Head-to-Head Challenge from

Group-9 and co-winner of the Beautywith a Purpose competition.

The Beauty with a Purpose project ofManushi Chhillar was Project Shakti.

On November 18, 2017, Chhillar wascrowned Miss World 2017 by outgoingtitleholder Miss World 2016 StephanieDel Valle from Puerto Rico. The firstand second runners-up wereStephanie Hill (Miss England) andAndrea Meza (Miss Mexico). Shebecame the sixth Indian woman towin the crown, and the first sincePriyanka Chopra won Miss World2000.

Creative with BeautyManushi Chhillar was an AllIndia CBSE topper in Englishat XIIth standard. She loveswriting poems in Englishwhenever she’s free she lovesclassical dances and she haseven acted in several stagedramas. She is a serious and avery intelligent MBBS student.

Top-10 Nations with HighestMiss World Titles

Nation Titles

India 6 (2017, 2000, 1999, 1997,1994 & 1966)

Venezuela 6 (2011, 1995, 1991, 1984,1981 & 1955)

Britain 5 (1983, 1974, 1965, 1964& 1961)

South Africa 3 (2014, 1974 & 1958)

The USA 3 (2010, 1990 & 1973)

Iceland 3 (2005, 1988 & 1985)

Jamaica 3 (1993, 1976 & 1963)

Sweden 3 (1977, 1952 & 1951)

Puerto Rico 2 (2016 & 1975)

China 2 (2012 & 2007)

Manushi ChhillarThe Miss World 2017

n the

Interested Facts

about Manushi

l Height 173 cm.l Date of Birth May 14, 1997l Birth Place Sonipat (Haryana).l Hobbies Dancing, Travelling, Painting,

Singing, Poetry.l Hails from Haryana and was born to a

family of doctors. She is an aspiringgynecologist and cardiac surgeon.

l She is an adventure junkie and lovesparagliding, bungee jumping, snorkelingand scuba diving.

l Favourite Quote of her “The sky is the limit.We are limitless and so are our dreams, wemust never doubt ourselves”.

ISRAELANationArised from Conflicts

SPECIAL COVERAGE

Israel is a parliamentary democracy with universal suffrage.

It is considered the most advanced country in South West Asia

and the Middle East in economic and industrial

development.

The defeat of the Ottoman empire inWorld War I, led the British assumedcontrol of Palestine. In November1917, the British government issuedthe Balfour Declaration, announcingits intention to facilitate ‘‘theestablishment in Palestine of anational home for the Jewish people."

In 1922, the League of Nationsgranted Britain a mandate overPalestine which included, amongother things, provisions calling forthe establishment of a Jewishhomeland, facilitating Jewishimmigration and encouraging Jewishsettlement on the land.

End of Second WorldWar (1945)The Jews that survived holocaustand extermination camps, had no

home of their own-everything wasdestroyed in the war. The Zionistshelped them immigrate and settle inPalestine.

But the Palestinian Arabs decidedthat no more Jews should arrive andthat Palestine should achieveindependence as an Arab state. (in1946 there were 12 lakh Arabs and7 lakh Jews in Palestine). There wasrioting and violence everywhere,from both sides.

The area was still under Britishadministration. But during this time,Britain lacked the money, politicalwill and military force to maintainhard control over its colonies. InFebruary, 1947, Britishers were busynegotiating independence of India.They were also eager to decreasecostly military presence in Palestine.

UN Resolution on Palestinel In late 1947, The United nations General

Assembly passed a resolution : ThisPalestine region to be partitioned into anArab State and a Jewish state, andJerusalem will become an Internationalcentre.

l Arab nations opposed this resolution. TheZionists welcomed the partition proposalbecause it recognised a Jewish state andbecause it allotted more than half of(West-of-Jordan) Palestine to them.

l Soon after the UN resolution, rioting andcivil war broke out in Palestine, betweenthe native Arab and Jews.

Birth of Israel, (1948)As the civil war, rioting, murder, loot,plunder, assassinations spread, on May 14,1948, the Last British high commissionerleft Palestine. Immediately, the Zionistleaders declared Israel a free Nation.Within a few hours, USA also recognizedIsrael as a nation.

First Israeli-Arab WarBritain handed the problem to the UnitedNations. On November 29, 1947, the UNGeneral Assembly voted to partitionPalestine into Jewish and Arab sectors.

There was violent and total Arabopposition, but wild Jewish acclaim.Fighting started almostimmediately.

Even before the mandate ended, inApril and May, Jewish fightersmoved to protect, consolidate andwiden the territory for the newJewish state.

Arab armies from Egypt, Jordan,Syria, Iraq and Lebanon tried toinvade Palestine as soon as theBritish forces actually left. But theArab campaign was a generallybadly organised.

The RefugeesBy the middle of 1949 up to 700000of about 900000 Palestinian Arabshad left the affected region, forcedout by a combination ofJewish/Israeli terror tactics, thefrightening thrust of war, unrulyand incompetent Arab leadership.

These Palestinians had fled fromtheir homes forever and ended upin the refugee camps of Lebanon,Syria, Jordan and Egyptian-runGaza and in the Palestinianterritory of the West Bank, whichwas ruled by the Jordanian KingAbdullah, as was Arab EastJerusalem.

Those Palestinian refugees andtheir descendants in the regionnow number more than threemillion. Israel has since refused toallow the refugees to return as longas Arab states remain pledged to itsdestruction, often claiming thatthere was no room for themanyway.

COMPETITION FOCUSINJanuary 2018

1. Who clinched the Pro Kabaddi League(PKL) 2017 title at the Jawaharlal NehruIndoor Stadium, New Delhi?a. Patna Pirates

b. Gujarat Fortunegiants

c. Haryana Rocks

d. None of the above

2. Consider the following statements :1. The PFMS Scheme has been rolled-out by

the Controller General of Accounts(CGA) at the behest of Finance Ministry,Department of Expenditure as a cherishedPublic Finance Management (PFM)reform in the country.

2. The Scheme aims at promotingtransparency and bringing about tangibleimprovements in the overall CentralGovernment Financial Management aswell as implementation of various CentralGovernment Schemes across the country.

Which of the above statements is/arewrong?a. Only 1 b. Only 2

c. Both of these d. None of these

3. Which country’s first cricket stadiumknown as Gahanga Cricket Stadiuminaugurated recently?a. Rwanda b. Burkina Faso

c. Chad d. Niger

4. Who replaced Microsoft co-founderBill Gates recently as the richest personin the world?a. Jeff Bezos b. Warren Buffett

c. Jeff Buffett d. Warren Bezos

5. Consider the following statements :1. An offshore patrol vessel (OPV) named

‘Vikram’ was handed over recently to theCoast Guard ahead of the March 2018delivery schedule.

2. The OPV entirely developed in-house byLarsen and Toubro.

3. L&T bagged the Ministry of Defenceorder to design and build seven OPV's foran order value of Rs 1,432 crores.

4. This is the 2nd OPV class vessel for theIndian Coast Guard that has been built bya private sector yard.

Which of the above statements is/are true?a. Only 1 b. Only 2 and 3

c. Only 3 d. Only 1, 2 and 3

6. India sent its first consignment ofwheat to Afghanistan through theChabahar port in Iran. The shipment wasflagged off from the Kandla port inGujarat with External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and her Afghancounterpart Salahuddin Rabbani joiningthe ceremony through videoconferencing. The port is likely to rampup trade between which countries?a. India b. Afghanistan

c. Iran d. All of these

7. India and the United Arab Emiratesheld the second round of their strategicdialogue at which place?a. New Delhi b. Bengaluru

c. Abu Dhabi d. None of these

8. The US/German GRACE (GravityRecovery and Climate Experiment)satellite mission has ended scienceoperations. GRACE made sciencemeasurements by precisely measuringthe distance between its twin satellites,GRACE-1 and GRACE-2, which requiredthat both spacecraft and theirinstruments be fully functional. It stayedin the space for how many days?a. 10 years b. 12 years

c. 15 years d. 20 years

9. Who became the 6th Indian and thefastest to complete 9000 ODI runs?a. Virat Kohli b. MS Dhoni

c. Ajay Jadeja d. None of these

10. Who has won the FIFA U-17 WorldCup at Vivekananda Yuba BharatiKrirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) in Kolkata ?a. India b. England

c. Spain d. The USA

11. Who has assumed charge as the ViceChief of Naval Staff recently?a. Karamvir Singh b. Ajit Kumar

c. Ajit singh d. Karamvir kaur

12. Who was awarded the EuropeanUnion’s human rights award recently?a. Venezuela’s democratic opposition

b. Malala Yousafzai

c. Nelson Mandela

d. None of the above

13. Consider the following statements :1. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Aushadhi

Pariyojana has been launched by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

2. It is launched with an objective of makingquality medicines available at affordableprices to all, particularly to the poor andunderprivileged, through exclusiveoutlets.

3. Jan Aushadhi Medical store is set up withan aim to reduce out of pocket expenses inhealthcare.

4. Currently, more than 600 medicines and150 surgical and other medical items arebeing made available at affordable rates atJanaushadhi Kendras.

Which of the above statements is/are true?a. Only 1 b. Only 2 and 3

c. Only 3 d. All of these

14. Who won the men’s singles title inthe Yonex French Open badmintontournament 2017?a. Kidambi Srikanth

b. Kento Nishimoto

c. Lee Jhe-Huei

d. Lee Yang

15. Who won the Mexican Grand Prix2017 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguezrace track, in Mexico?a. Valtteri Bottas b. Kimi Raikkonen

c. Vettel d. Max Verstappen

16. Who won the women’s singles titlein the Yonex French Open badmintontournament 2017?a. Tai Tzu Ying

b. Akane Yamaguchi

c. Apriyani Rahayu

d. Greysia Polii

17. Which country topped in the ISSF(International Shooting Sport Federation)World Cup 2017 by winning 2 gold, 3silver, 1 bronze medals?a. Italy b. China

c. India d. Vietnam

18. Who was appointed as the Secretary(Security) in the Cabinet Secretariatrecently?a. SK Sinha b. ARK Kini

c. NK Sinha d. None of these

67

0000CURRENT AFFAIRS

MCQs

large number of different goods The name of the magazine, which derives from

the Arabic word warehous and is used to describe a place that has deposits a

Housing and UrbanDevelopment Schemes

Scheme

COMPETITION FOCUSINJanuary 2018 141

Despite India’s growing economicstature in the last 70 years, the countryis home to as many as 78 millionhomeless people. The government ofIndia has launched many schemes andtried to bridge the gap betweennecessities and provision. Some of thefollowing important schemesgovernment has implemented topromote housing urban development.

North Eastern Region UrbanDevelopment ProgrammeThe North Eastern Region UrbanDevelopment Programme (NERUDP)has been taken up by the Ministry ofUrban Development with the financialassistance from Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB). ADB contribution is 70%of the cost as loan to the governmentof India.

Started in the financial year 2001-02 toprovide financial assistance to NorthEastern States, the scheme is beingimplemented in the capital cities of 5

North Eastern States viz. Agartala (Tripura),Aizawl (Mizoram), Gangtok (Sikkim), andKohima (Nagaland) covering priority urbanservices such asl Water Supplyl Sewerage and Sanitation,l Solid Waste Management

besides capacity building, institutional andfinancial reforms at an estimated cost of `

1371 crore.

The projects under the NERUDP schemehave been spread over three Tranches andare under execution in the project citiessince 2009. These projects have beenplanned for completion by June, 2019.

Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal MissionThe JNNURM was launched in 2005 as thefirst flagship scheme of government of India.JnNURM implemented by the Ministry ofHousing and Urban Poverty Alleviation hastwo components e.g. Basic Services forUrban poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housingand Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)

which aimed at integrateddevelopment of slums throughprojects for providing shelter,basic services and other relatedcivic amenities with a view toproviding utilities to the urbanpoor. Under BSUP, project costis shared in the ratio of 50:50 forcities with population more than1million (as per Census 2001),80 : 20 for other smaller MissionCities and 90 : 10 for NorthEastern and Special categoryStates.

Rajiv Awas YojanaRajiv Awas Yojana (RAY)scheme launched in the year2009 as a central sponsoredscheme, focusing on slum freeIndia. The scheme features a"Slum Free India" with inclusiveand equitable cities in whichevery citizen has access to basiccivic infrastructure and socialamenities and decent shelter.Information on this scheme isprovided by the Ministry ofHousing and Urban PovertyAlleviation.

Objectivesl Improving and provisioning of

housing, basic civicinfrastructure and socialamenities in slums.

l Enabling reforms to addresssome of the causes leading tocreation of slums.

l Facilitating a supportiveenvironment for expandinginstitutional credit linkagesfor the urban poor.

l Institutionalising mechanismsfor prevention of slumsincluding creation ofaffordable housing stock.

l Strengthening institutionaland human resourcecapacities at the Municipal,City and State levels throughcomprehensive capacitybuilding and strengthening ofresource networks.

National UrbanLivelihoods MissionThe National Urban LivelihoodsMission (NULM) was launchedby the Ministry of Housing andUrban Poverty Alleviation(MHUPA), government of Indiaon September 23, 2013 byreplacing the existing SwarnaJayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana(SJSRY).