CURRENT AFFAIRS SET 11 (FRAMED FROM TIMES OF INDIA & PRATIYOGITA MAGAZINE

Ans. C

Rivers                Source

Shipra                Kakri Badri Hills

Kaveri                Western ghats

Krishna             Mahabaleshwar

Ans. C

With a view to explore deep ocean for resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal of Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on “Deep Ocean Mission” at an estimated cost of Rs. 4077.0 crore for a period of 5 years to be implemented in a phase-wise manner. 

The Deep Ocean Mission consists of the following six major components.

1. Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible: A manned submersible will be developed to carry 3 people to a depth of 6000 metres in the ocean with suite of scientific sensors and tools. Only a very few countries have acquired this capability. An Integrated Mining System will be also developed for mining Polymetallic Nodules from 6000 m depth in the central Indian Ocean. The exploration studies of minerals will pave way for the commercial exploitation in the near future, as and when commercial exploitation code is evolved by the International Seabed Authority, an UN organization. This component will help the Blue Economy priority area of exploring and harnessing of deep-sea minerals and energy.
2. Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services: A suite of observations and models will be developed to understand and provide future projections of important climate variables on seasonal to decadal time scales under this proof of concept component. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of coastal tourism.
3. Create awareness amongst the public, students, academicians and user communities about the various fields of Earth system science as well as on the achievements and services rendered by MoES.
4. Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity: Bio- prospecting of deep-sea flora and fauna including microbes and studies on sustainable utilization of deep sea bio-resources will be the main focus. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Fisheries and allied services.
5. Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration: The primary objective of this component is to explore and identify potential sites of multi-metal hydrothermal sulphides mineralization along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges. This component will additionally support the Blue Economy priority area of deep-sea exploration of ocean resources.
6. Energy and freshwater from the Ocean: Studies and detailed engineering design for offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) powered desalination plant are envisaged in this proof of concept proposal. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of off-shore energy development.
7. Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology: This component is aimed as development of human capacity and enterprise in ocean biology and engineering. This component will translate research into industrial application and product development through on-site business incubator facilities. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Biology, Blue trade and Blue manufacturing.

Ans. A

Transfer pricing refers to the rules and methods for pricing transactions within and between enterprises under common ownership or control. Because of the potential for cross-border controlled transactions to distort taxable income, tax authorities in many countries can adjust intragroup transfer prices that differ from what would have been charged by unrelated enterprises dealing at arm’s length

Although transfer pricing is sometimes inaccurately presented by commentators as a tax avoidance practice or technique , the term refers to a set of substantive and administrative regulatory requirements imposed by governments on certain taxpayers.

Transfer pricing should not be conflated with fraudulent trade mis-invoicing, which is a technique for concealing illicit transfers by reporting falsified prices on invoices submitted to customs officials. “Because they often both involve mispricing, many aggressive tax avoidance schemes by multinational corporations can easily be confused with trade misinvoicing.

Ans. C

CONGRESS SETUP EAGLE PANEL TO MONITOR EC POLL CONDUCT

Ans. B

A hypersonic weapon is a weapon capable of travelling at hypersonic speed, defined as above Mach 5, or above 5 times the speed of sound.

Below Mach 1, weapons would be characterized as subsonic, and above Mach 1, as supersonic. Typical Low Earth Orbit atmospheric re-entry speed is Mach 25

Ans. A

Ans. C

Agrivoltaic farming is the practice of growing crops underneath solar panels. It allows agriculture and solar energy generation to share the same land, providing sustainable energy while also allowing crops to thrive

Ans. C

Ans. B

Greater Government role over exam administration

Ans. C