QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz – 11 October, 2016

Solution: a.

• “A fourth option for banks is to sell the NPA at a discount to an Asset Restructuring Company. This again involves a significant loss on loans when the transaction is made. But it has the effect of getting an NPA off the books of the bank or ‘cleaning up the balance sheet’. The bank’s capital is eroded to the extent of the loss.”
• “The bad bank proposal is a variant of the fourth option. The idea is to transfer NPAs of banks, perhaps only PSBs, to the bad bank. The bad bank will manage these NPAs in suitable ways — some may be liquidated, others may be restructured, etc. Getting NPAs off the books will help the PSB management focus on new business instead of having to expend their energies on trying to effect recoveries. A bad bank will be better focussed on the task of recovery. If it’s a private entity, it can also bring in superior expertise.”

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/why-a-bad-bank-is-tricky/article9204489.ece

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Solution: d.

• Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission (NHM). It is being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among pregnant women.
• The scheme is under implementation in all states and Union Territories (UTs), with a special focus on Low Performing States (LPS).

“While previous studies had shown the impact of Janani Suraksha Yojana in reducing maternal mortality, it was not known if it had reduced socioeconomic inequalities — differences in access to maternal care between individual people of higher or lower socioeconomic status. A new study brings in first conclusive evidence of the role played by Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in reducing ‘socioeconomic disparities’ existing in maternal care.”

http://www.thehindu.com/data/janani-suraksha-yojana-pays-dividends-study/article9204743.ece

Solution: b.

“Belgium’s Port of Antwerp could well be India’s lighthouse. In its bid to drastically cut logistics costs, the Asian nation is planning to pump in billions of dollars to make its dry river beds navigable and develop over 2,000 river ports across 111 national waterways spanning 20,000 km. And, it could take away a few lessons on generating cargo close to its proposed riverine ports from its European counterpart.”

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/worlds-diamond-city-belgiums-port-of-antwerp-can-guide-indias-waterways/article9204545.ece

Solution: b.

“Indian Railways with more than 160 years of rich history; presents a wide spectrum of both tangible and intangible heritage. Indian Railways is proud owner of four UNESCO accorded World Heritage Sites namely Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (1999), Nilgiri Mountain Railway (2005), Kalka Shimla Railway (2008) and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai (2004). There are two more in waiting or in the tentative list namely Matheran Light Railway and Kangra Valley Railway. (2005), Kalka Shimla Railway (2008) and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai (2004). There are two more in waiting or in the tentative list namely Matheran Light Railway and Kangra Valley Railway.”

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=151497

Solution: c.

“Maniyamma, an octogenarian tribal woman of Palakkayam colony in Chaliyargrama panchayat used to struggle with books and slates in her endeavour to become a neo-literate. But a ‘talking pen’ which reproduces the sound of a written text made matters easy for her and so many other indigenous people of the area. They moved the electronic pen across the alphabets and words of songs to hear and learn them simultaneously with ease… It is this talking pen and other such innovative efforts in literacy and skill development programmes which helped Jan Shikshan Sansthan(JSS), Malappuram to bag the covetous UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, 2016…. This is the fourth time an organisation in India got bestowed with Confucius prize.”

• Established in 2005 through the generosity of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the UNESCO Confucius Prize recognises the activities of outstanding individuals, governments or governmental agencies and NGOs whose work in literacy serves rural adults and out-of-school youth, particularly women and girls.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=151475

Solution: b.

We posted a similar question here a few days ago. Myanmar is not a member of SAARC. Afghanistan and Maldives are not members of BIMSTEC. Only 1, 2 and 3 from the above list are common to both the groups.

“The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.”

Improvisation: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/saarc-summit-india-pakistan-south-east-asia-regional-forum-3075858/