Explanation :

“Triton Island” is the most south-western of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. It is located on the south-west corner of Triton Reef and has an area of 7 hectares above sea-level. The reef including the Island measures about 120 hectares. The Island is administered by the People's Republic of China, and is also claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Vietnam.

Why the question on this Island?

In July 2017, the guided missile destroyer USS Stethem navigated within 12 miles of Triton Island as part of a FONOP (Freedom of Navigation Operation). In a recent meeting held between China and US, this issue was also highlighted, so we have framed a question on this.

Source Name : The Diplomat

Explanation :

• The Dooars or Duars are the alluvial floodplains in northeastern India that lie south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas and north of the Brahmaputra River basin. It is mainly present in Darjeeling of West Bengal and is best suited for Tea cultivation.
• Dooars are analogous with the Terai in Northern India and Southern Nepal. The Western Dooars are also known as the Bengal Dooars, and the Eastern Dooars are known as the Assam Dooars. So, the correct statements are 2 and 3 only.

Why Question on Duars?

Due to Human-Animal conflict, this region is in news, so we thought to club this with our Geography syllabus and frame a question for the same.

Source Name : TH

Explanation :

Gyroscopes are used in satellites mainly for keeping them pointed precisely in one direction as they orbit around the Earth, i.e. it helps spacecraft maintain proper orientation.

Why the question on this?

After, NASA’s Hubble Telescope, Chandra mission has also suffered glitch and scientists are of the view that it happened due to failure of Gyroscope only. So, we thought that our students should be aware with this, as UPSC prefers to ask questions from Space Technology.

Source Name : TH

Explanation :

“Bosphorus Strait” connects European part to Asian Part of Istanbul (Turkey). Students should also remember that it connects the “Black Sea” with “Sea of Marmara”, which is a strategic gateway. Length of this gateway is 32km when measured from north to south.

Why is this important from Prelims point of view?

We have observed that UPSC does ask question when this region is in news. This time, due to economic crisis in Turkey and change in color of this strait, this area becomes important from Prelims point of view, hence the question.

Explanation :

GDP consists of monetary value of the final goods and services produced in the territory of India. But, the service provided by the mother/wife can’t be assigned any monetary value. But, if the option would have said that service provided by maid, then this would have become correct as you can assign monetary values to the maid. Embassies and military establishments are considered as the territory of that country in the foreign land, hence that will be accounted in the GDP calculation.

Why the question on this?

Recently, Estimate Committee of the Parliament has submitted the report to change the way GDP is calculated (Like it does not take into account the happiness, environment degradation, etc.). So, we have decided to cover the concepts of GDP with our Daily Quiz module.

Source Name : TH

Explanation :

CPs is the unsecured money market instruments issued in the form of Promissory Note. It is a short term instrument whose maturity varies from 7days to 1 year. Hence, statement 1 stands incorrect (Our intention is to emphasise that CPs are Unsecured Loans). CPs can be issued by Corporates, Primary Dealers and Financial Institutions. Eligible participant must have A2 rating at the time of issuance. Hence, statements 2 and 3 are correct.

Who can participate in CPs?

Banking companies, Mutual funds, other corporate bodies, FII, and NRIs can participate in CPs.

How CPs is related to IL & FS crisis?

If we look at the business model of IL&FS, we will find that they used to fund the projects which were of long term (15-20 years), so to fund those projects it used to borrow the money for 8-10 years, but three years back Banks stopped the refinancing of those funds and it turned towards CPs to meet the liquidity shortage, and from here the problem began, as the maturity period of these money market instruments was less than 1 year and IL&FS was havingliquidity crunch, so it started defaulting on the payment and from here the small “Geyser” took the form of “Volcano”.

Note: Students need to understand that IL&FS per se has not done fraud as their loans amount to Rs 90,000 crores, but they do have asset of Rs 1.15 lakh crore, so this asset can be liquidated (as maximum of them are good assets). So, on broader sense, IL&FS crisis is the result of poor governance. This type of argument can be used in Mains answer writing.

Source Name : IE

Explanation :

The Gulf of Gabes is a gulf on Tunisia's east coast in the Mediterranean Sea, off North Africa. The entire Gulf of Gabes is underlain by the continental shelf of the African Plate, and is nowhere deeper than 200 meters i.e. it has shallow continental shelf.

Why the question?

Recently, Blue Crab, which was once native to Red Sea, was found in “Gulf of Gabes” and from here it is illegally exported to many countries. This region is important from Prelims point of view, hence the question.

Source Name : TH

Explanation :

Shell companies are typically corporate entities which do not have any active business operations or significant assets in their possession. The government views them with suspicion as some of them could be used for money laundering, tax evasion and other illegal activities. The Companies Act, 2013 has not defined what a ‘Shell Company’ is and as to what kind of activities would lead to a company being termed a ‘Shell’. Hence, correct statement is 2 only.

What is a Dormant Company?

As per Company Act, 2013, under Section 455, a company that does not have significant financial activity or has been inactive can apply to the RoC (Registrar of Company) and obtain the status of a Dormant Company or else, if a company does not file its financial return for 2 years, it is called as “Dormant Company”. The main difference between “Dormant Company” and “Shell Company” is the purpose for their set up. Shell Company is set up for tax evasion and money laundering (and other illegal activities), but the Dormant Company is not set up for that. Hence, statement 3 is wrong.

Why the question?

Recently, Government has set up a panel to clearly define the “Shell Companies”, but till date the consensus has not been reached.

Source Name : TH

Explanation :

• The Bakarwal are a mostly-Sunni Muslim nomadic tribe based in the Pir Panjal and Himalayan mountains of South Asia. They are traditionally, and still mainly, goatherds and shepherds. They reside in the entire Kashmir region between India and Pakistan, and in the Nuristan province of Afghanistan. They are the Transhumance tribe as they take their animal to Highlands in summer for good pastures and to lowlands in winters.
• The Central Government in 1991 had given Scheduled Tribe status to Bakarwals and gave them reservation in both State and Central Government jobs. Along with Gujjars, Bakarwals enjoy 10 per cent reservation in jobs and promotions in the State Government, and 7 per cent in Central Government departments.

Explanation :

Yudh Abhyas is an exercise between Indian and US Army. “Cope India” is an exercise between Indian and US Air Force. Navy of India and US participate in Malabar Exercise along with Japan.

Source Name : TH​

Explanation :

• To understand the concept, students need to keep the Latitude of Delhi in mind (It is at approximately 28 degree North), which is slightly above the Tropic of Cancer.
• As the Monsoon and Easterly winds start to withdraw by the end of September, winds blowing in from the North-west direction become prevalent again. The change in (wind) direction from Easterly to North-westerly (Due to shift in the pressure belt during winters and withdrawal of Monsoon) coincides with the crop-burning season. And, it is this wind that brings the particulate matter from the neighbouring states to Delhi adding to the worries.
• If a student sees the option, he can easily eliminate the 1st statement as it says that during that crop burning season wind is Easterlies, how it can bring the particulate matter from Punjab or Haryana (They are not located to the East of Delhi). So, with simple knowledge of the location of the city, student could have arrived at the right answer.
• Compared to other neighbouring states, Delhi already has high Base pollution due to vehicular emissions, etc. So, only correct statement is 2.

Source Name : IE, CPCB website

Explanation :

Zika virus was first found in Rhesus Monkey in 1947 and is named after the “Zika Forest” which is present in Uganda. Hence statement 1 is wrong. Zika virus can be transmitted between Human perinatally. It is considered to be the cause of “Microcephaly” in children. Till date it has not been established that it is transmitted by “Breastfeeding”. The carrier agent of Zika virus is same as the carrier agent of Dengue and Chikungunya i.e. Aedes Aegypti (mosquito).

Why the question?

Zika virus disease is in news due to its outbreak in Rajasthan.

Source Name : IE, Livemint

Explanation :

As the name suggests, it is the liquidity adjustment system by the RBI. When the bank needs the money they go to the RBI and get the money through the repo rate system. When Rbi needs the Money, it gets it through Reverse Repo Mechanism and thus, the supply is maintained. But, the other argument is CRR and SLR can also be used to adjust the liquidity. But, this has to be kept in mind that the value of CRR and SLR are not changed that frequently, hence they are the supporting tools of LAF. The actual tool of LAF is Repo and Reverse Repo only.

Why the question on LAF?

Recently, RBI has decided to buy $120 billion G-sec by Open market operation, just to adjust the liquidity in the system, hence we thought that our students should know about LAF.

Source Name : TH, Economic Times​

Explanation :

Happy Seeder is one of the unique techniques which are used for sowing wheat without any burning of rice residue. This technology is eco-friendly, good for the health of soil and also saves water. Super-Sms (Super Straw Management System) is a farm appliance used in the combination with Harvesters, so that farmers need not burn agricultural residues.

Source Name : IE

Explanation :

Talley/Talle Valley is a wildlife sanctuary as well as a bio-diversity hotspot located at a distance of 32 kms from Ziro valley towards the north east. Comprising sub-tropical and alpine forests it has a variety of flora and fauna, many of which are endangered. Recently, 171 species of Butterfly has been found over here.

Source Name : MoEF website

Explanation :

The Chandra X-ray Observatory was earlier called as “Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) that was launched in 1999 by NASA to study the black holes, supernovas and other sources of high energy phenomenon. Hence, statement 2 and 3 are incorrect. This observatory is a space based observatory rather than Earth based observatory.

What is the benefit of space based observatory compared to Earth based observatory?

The problem with the Earth based observatory is that Earth’s Atmosphere absorbs a vast majority of X-rays, thus it does not give us a clear picture of the Space phenomenon. So, space based observatory is preferred.

Why the question on this?

In the quiz dated 14th October, we have already highlighted that CXO went into the “Safe MODE” due to failure of its Gyroscope, but it has started functioning again. So, it became relevant from our Prelims point of view.

Note: Please read the usage of “Gyroscope” in satellites in the Quiz dated 14th October (Q.No-3)

Source Name : TH, IE​

Explanation :

Zika virus was first found in Rhesus Monkey in 1947 and is named after the “Zika Forest” which is present in Uganda. Sporadic cases used to exist till 1960s, but the first major outbreak happened in 2007 in the “Island of Yap” in Pacific Ocean. In 2015, the outbreak in Brazil led to the revelation that Zika can be the cause of “Microcephaly”. Hence, statement 2 is wrong. As of June 2018, there is no vaccine available for Zika, clinical trials are in progress.

Note: Please refer Q. No 2 (Quiz dated 16th November) for more detailed analysis of Zika Virus Disease.

Source Name : IE​

Explanation :

Recently, in a research paper, it has been found that if a condition exists, a Moon can have its own satellite which people can call “Moonmoon/Moooons/Submoon”.

Condition under which this is feasible

• Host Moon shall have more mass than its Moonmoon, so that it can hold it in its gravity.
• Both shall be far away from the planet system so that they are not sucked into the gravity of the planets.
• Moonmoon should be at an optimum distance, not too far nor too close (as tidal force will become dominant and will tear it apart).

Source Name : IE

Explanation :

India is the third largest oil consumer in the world and it imports its 85% of “Crude Oil” from other countries. In that circumstance it needs to purchase the crude oil on day to day basis, so it is very evident that it will come under “Current Account” expenditure. There is no way it will go into Capital Account. So, students can easily eliminate option (a). But, how come rise in crude oil price will have impact on FD? If the price of crude oil rises, the products or services dependent upon the crude oil will also rise. So, to deal with that inflation, Government will have to reduce its tax or will have to provide subsidy and in both the cases, it will have impact on FD.

Source Name : IE, Financial Times​

Explanation :

Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary or Heerpora Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Shopian district of Kashmir, 70 kilometers south of Srinagar. It spreads over an area of 341 km². The Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary is the catchment for the Rambiara and Aharabal, tributaries of the Jhelum. It is in the news as the Supreme Court has allowed construction of Road in this sanctuary to which people were opposed to.

Explanation :

GST is a destination based tax which is comprehensive in nature but is not levied on all Goods & Services. Items of daily usage have been kept out of its ambit (i.e. Zero tax slab). Hence, statement (b) is wrong. GST is a comprehensive tax that amalgamates the Indirect Tax not the Direct Tax; hence statement (c) is wrong. The main criticism of the GST of India is that, it defied the main motto of the GST i.e. “One Nation, One Tax” by having different tax slabs. Hence, statement (a) is also wrong.

GST is a comprehensive Indirect Tax regime with Input Tax Credit facility available in the value chain. So, it takes care of the cascading effect of taxes. Hence, the correct statement is (d).

Source Name : Financial Express

Explanation :

• POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, which ensures convergence with various programmes i.e. Anganwadi Services, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), National Health Mission (NHM), Swachh-Bharat Mission, etc. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• The goals of NNM are to achieve improvement in nutritional status of children from 0-6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in a time bound manner during the next three years beginning 2017-18. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
• NNM targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. Although the target to reduce stunting is at least 2% p.a., mission would strive to achieve reduction in stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).

Source Name : PIB

Explanation :

When the items like nets, lines and traps are inadvertently lost or abandoned at the bottom of the ocean, they become classified as ‘ghost gear’. The discarded debris not only pollutes the waters, but it disrupts ecosystems and has become increasingly deadly. Each year, more than 705,000 tons of Ghost Gear builds up in the oceans and slowly it will destroy the whole marine ecosystem if not tackled properly. Hence, the only correct option is (b)

Source Name : The Hindu

Explanation :

“Island of Yap” traditionally refers to an Island located in the Caroline Islands of the Western Pacific Ocean. Their economy is dependent upon the tourism industry.

Why this Island is in news?

The first outbreak of Zika virus disease happened in “Island of Yap” in 2007, so we thought that our students should be aware with the location of this Island.

Source Name : IE, WHO website​

Explanation :

The armies of India and China will resume their annual bilateral military exercise 'Hand-in- Hand' in December. This will be held in China. The last exercise was held in 2016 and the successive exercises were cancelled due to Doklam crisis.

Source Name : TH, IE

Explanation :

The idea of INA was conceived by Mohan Singh, when he decided not to join the retreating British Army and instead went to the Japan Army for the help. Hence, statement 2 is wrong. INA had two headquarters one at Burma/Rangoon and other at Singapore. The Brigades of INA were named after Rani Laxmi Bai, Gandhiji, Nehru and even Subhash Chandra Bose (He was reluctant to name the Brigade after him, but he succumbed under the pressure from the cadets.)

Why the Question on INA?

21st October 2018 will mark the 75th Anniversary of “Azad Hind” Government. Hence, we urge the student to focus on role of Subhash Chandra Bose in India’s freedom struggle for Prelims.

Some Related Information

The Azad Hind Government, founded on 21st October, 1943 was inspired by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who was the leader of Azad Hind Government and also the Head of State of this Provisional Indian Government-in-exile. It was a part of the freedom movement, originating in 1940s outside India with a purpose of allying with Axis powers to free India from British Rule.

Source Name : PIB

Explanation :

• •India extends from 68.7 degree East to 97.25 degree East, hence statement 3 is wrong.
• •Council for Scientific & Industrial Research-National Physics Laboratory (CSIR-NPL) is India’s national time keeper. Hence, statement 1 is wrong. On world level, “Bureau of Weights & Measures” (France) looks into that.
• •India’s Standard Meridian is 82.5 degree East which passes through Mirzapur. Hence, statement 4 is wrong.
• •Earth revolves 360 degree in 24 hours, so in 1 hour it revolves 360/24=15 degree. Hence, 1 hour = 60 minutes, implies, 60/15 = 4 minutes. 1 degree longitude = 4 minutes. Hence, statement 2 is also wrong.

Why the Question?

CSIR-NPL has proposed Government to have two time zones, instead of one, so we have framed question on that.

Source Name : IE

Explanation :

Reserve Tranche is the component of a member country’s quota with the IMF that is in the form of gold or foreign currency. For any member country, out of the total quota, 25% should be paid in the form of foreign currency or gold. Hence, this is called as ‘reserve tranche’ or ‘gold tranche’. The remaining 75% can be in domestic currencies and it is called ‘credit tranche’.

Simplifying this for Our Understanding

Say the IMF Quota of a country is 100 units (it is decided upon GDP and other factors), IMF will ask that country to provide 25 units in Hard currency/gold and remaining 75 units in domestic currency (say Rupee). So, Reverse Tranche = 100-75 = 25 i.e. whatever you have with the IMF in hard currency/Gold, you are supposed to count that in your Forex Reserve. Therefore, Forex consists of:

• Hard currency
• Gold
• SDR
• Reserve Tranche

Why the Question?

A strong US dollar and subsequent interventions by the country's central bank to stabilise the rupee drained over $5.14 billion from India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves; hence, the question.

Source Name : Financial Express

Explanation :

Explanation: The main difference between TUFS (Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme) and ATUFS is that ATUFS will only provide capital subsidy but TUFS was for capital and interest subsidy both.

Salient Features of ATUFS

• It will provide 15% capital subsidy for garment and technical textile (maximum cap of Rs 30 crore).
• It will provide 10% capital subsidy for processing, weaving, jute, silk and handloom segments units (maximum cap of Rs 20 crore).

Source:

Source Name : TH

Explanation :

This forest reserve is present in the state of Odisha. Garjanpahad Forest Reserve has currently been in the news as Naturalists were shocked to spot a Black Panther earlier this year, after almost two decades.

Source Name : Livemint