QUIZ: Insights Current Affairs Quiz – 81

Ans: c.

“..The impact of the salary raises on the States’ fiscal resources — considering that States have also in the past tended to implement the recommendations — cannot be underestimated..”

“.. The assumption is that higher incomes will lead to higher spending by employees on consumer goods, which, in turn, will spur the manufacturing sector out of its stupor. But the flip side to this is higher inflation and the possible negation of all that the Reserve Bank of India has been doing this past year. The implementation of recommendations by successive Pay Commissions has been followed by a jump in retail inflation, which can be assumed to occur again..”

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/an-expected-raise/article7900779.ece

Ans: c.

Article 156 (1): The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.

“..The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre, the Madhya Pradesh government and the State’s Governor, Ram Naresh Yadav, on a plea seeking the removal of the Governor owing to his alleged involvement in the multi-crore Vyapam scam, which is currently being probed by the CBI. The petition sought the apex court to direct the MHA to move a proposal for “withdrawal of pleasure” of the President under Article 156 (1) of the Constitution, thus facilitating the Governor’s removal..”

http://www.insightsonindia.com/2015/11/21/insights-daily-current-events-21-november-2015/

Ans: c.

http://www.insightsonindia.com/2015/11/21/insights-daily-current-events-21-november-2015/

Ans: a.

“..The National Commission on Agriculture in India defines three types of droughts: meteorological, agricultural and hydrological. Meteorological drought is defined as a situation when there is significant decrease from normal precipitation over an area (i.e. more than 10 %). Hydrological drought results from prolonged meteorological drought manifested in depletion of surface and subsurface water resources. It must be noted that hydrological drought could occur even when the rainfall is normal, if there has been a substantial reduction in surface water holding capacity..”

The decrease in crop yield may have occured due to improper methods of nurturing or due to pest attacks or some other reason. Agricultural drought, however, is “a situation when soil moisture and rainfall are inadequate to support healthy crop growth”.

This is a heavy document on drought management, provided only for the sake of mentioning the source of the question. If you find time, you could glance through it. Given that we just experienced two consecutive years of drought, a question (essay?) may be asked on the topic in this year’s mains.

50 Uttar Pradesh districts declared drought-hit

Ans: d.

First batch of enclave residents from Bangladesh arrives in West Bengal

This was the 119^th Amendment which was introduced in the Parliament, but the 100^th amendment

Ans: a.

“..Take the flame of a candle, the kind you might find on a birthday cake. The flame takes the familiar shape — as, basically, a gaseous teardrop — because of gravity. The hot air rises and draws fresh, cool air behind it. The buoyancy makes the flame shoot up and flicker..”

“..In microgravity, according to this NASA video, flames behave differently than they do here on Earth. Instead of the tear shape we’re used to from our birthday cakes or what have you, the gravity-challenged flames form fire balls. Unlike Earth-bound flames which expand greedily when they need more fuel, flame balls let the oxygen come to them..”

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/question-corner/article7876983.ece