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GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 7

NEWS & KNOWLEDGE

National Green Hydrogen

Mission: Advantage India

The National Green

Hydrogen Mission that

received the approval of

the Union Government

with an initial outlay

of Rs. 19,744 crore on

January 4, 2023 is yet

another big initiative in

India’s march towards

the net zero carbon

emission by 2070. The

initial outlay includes

Rs. 17,490 for the Strategic

Interventions for Green

Hydrogen Transition

(SIGHT) programme, Rs.

1,466 crore for pilot

projects, Rs. 400 crore for

R&D and Rs. 388 crore

towards other Mission

components. Green Hydrogen is a type of hydrogen produced by splitting

water through electrolysis, using electrolyser powered entirely by renewable

power sources. There are a number of reasons why hydrogen is being promoted

as a clean source of energy. Electricity generation in India is heavily dependent

on fossil fuels (coal). If hydrogen can replace it, there will be reduced pollution.

Additionally, the import of coal can be reduced.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element on the planet and has other advantages

such as being lighter, more energy-dense and energy-efficient (2-3 times more

than petrol). The transportation, iron and steel, and chemical industries will be

benefitted. The aim is to bring down the cost of green hydrogen to $1.5 per kg

and produce five million tonnes per year green hydrogen capacity by 2030.

India has an advantage here due to its geographical location, climate conditions

and abundance of renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and hydropower,

making it ideal for becoming the world’s cheapest hub of green hydrogen by

2050. At this juncture, with a calibrated approach, India can uniquely position

itself to take advantage with increasing investment in R&D, capacity building,

compatible legislation and the opportunity for creation of demand among its

vast population. Such initiatives can propel India to become the most favoured

nation by exporting hydrogen to its neighbours and beyond.

8 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

NEWS & KNOWLEDGE

The International Year Of Millets

2023: A Great Opportunity

Unleashing the

potential of millets for

the well-being of people

and the environment,

the United Nations has

declared 2023 as the

International Year of

Millets (IYM), dedicating

the year to greater efforts

in producing millets

given their nutritional

properties and resilience

in adapting to climate

change. The opening

ceremony for the IYM

was organised by the

United Nations Food

and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO), the lead agency for the events, at

Rome, Italy, on December 6, 2022. The declaration of IYM aims at creating

awarness about the contribution of millets to food security and nutrition; inspire

stakeholders to improve sustainable production and quality of millets; and focus

on enhanced investment in research and development, and extension services.

India, which has already celebrated 2018 as National Year of Millets, has played

a pioneering role in getting 2023 declared as the IYM.

Millet is a collective term referring to a number of small-seeded annual grasses

that are cultivated as grain crops, primarily on marginal lands in dry areas in

temperate, subtropical and tropical regions. Some of the common millets available

in India are Ragi (Finger millet), Jowar (Sorghum), Sama (Little millet), Bajra

(Pearl millet) and Variga (Proso millet). The earliest evidence for these grains

has been found in Indus Civilisation and were one of the first plants domesticated

for food. Millets are less expensive and nutritionally superior to wheat & rice

owing to their high protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals like iron content. They

are also rich in calcium and magnesium and can provide nutritional security.

Millets are grown in about 131 countries and is the traditional food for around

60 crore people in Asia & Africa. India, Nigeria and China are the largest

producers of millets in the world, accounting for more than 55% of the global

production. India, the largest producer of millet in the world, accounts for 20%

of global production and 80% of Asia’s production. In recent years, millet

production has dramatically increased in Africa.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 9

NEWS & KNOWLEDGE

The Healing Of Ozone Layer:

Finally A Good News

Earth’s protective ozone layer

is slowly but noticeably healing

at a pace that would fully

mend the hole over Antarctica

in about 43 years, said a new

United Nations report, presented

at the American Meteorological

Society convention in Denver,

USA, on January 9, 2023.

In fact, the ozone layer over

Antarctica, where the hole is the

most prominent, will take a

longer time to heal completely.

Over the rest of the world, it is

expected to be back to where it

was in 1980 by 2040 itself. The

report, based on once-everyfour-year scientific assessment,

said that the global average

amount of ozone 18 miles (30 kilometres) high in the atmosphere will not be

back to 1980 pre-thinning levels until about 2040 and it will not be back to

normal in the Arctic until 2045. Antarctica, where it is so thin that there is a

giant gaping hole in the layer, will not be fully fixed until 2066.

The ozone layer, previously thought to be the most serious threat to the

planetary life, has been steadily improving since 2000, thanks to the Montreal

Protocol’s (1987) effective implementation. The Montreal Protocol mandates

countries to phase out production of all main ozone depleting substances (ODSs).

The Kigali Amendment (2016) to the Montreal Protocol aims to phase down

80-90% of the hydrofluoro carbons (HFCs) currently in use by 2050.

HFCs have replaced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in industrial use and the

amendment seeks to prevent additional 0.3 to 0.5 degree Celsius of global

warming by the end of the current century. HFCs do not cause much

ozone layer damage, which is why they were not originally prohibited, but

they are extremely powerful greenhouse gases (GHGs). Nearly 99% of the

Montreal Protocol-banned substances have now been phased out of usage,

resulting in a slow but steady rebuilding of the ozone layer. The eradication

of ODSs has a significant climate change co-benefit because these compounds

are also potent GHGs, expected to prevent 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius of warming

by 2050.

10 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

NEWS & KNOWLEDGE

The VSHORADS Missile System:

A Shot In The Arm

The Very

Short-Range Air

Defence System

or VSHORADS

(IR Homing) missile

system, is among

the weapon systems

that have been

accorded Acceptance

of Necessity (AoN)

to be procured at a

cost of Rs. 4,276

crore for the Indian

Army and Indian

Navy by the

Defence Acquisition

Council (DAC) on

January 9, 2023.

Meant to kill low altitude aerial threats at short ranges, VSHORADS is a manportable Air Defence System (MANPAD) designed and developed indigenously

by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI), Hyderabad, in collaboration with

other DRDO laboratories and Indian Industry Partners. The DRDO, in

September 2022, conducted two successful test-flights of the VSHORADS missile

from a ground-based portable launcher at the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur,

off the coast of Odisha.

The missile—which is propelled by a dual thrust solid motor—incorporates

many novel technologies including miniaturised Reaction Control System (RCS)

and integrated avionics, which were successfully proved during the tests

conducted last year. The DRDO has designed the missile and its launcher in a

way to ensure easy portability. Being man-portable and light-weight compared

to the other missile systems in the Army’s armoury, it can be deployed in the

mountains close to the LAC at a short notice. When it came to man-portable

air defence missiles, there was a critical gap in the Army’s inventory, especially

for the eastern and northern borders, though not so much for the western

borders with Pakistan, for which India has the Soviet-vintage OSA AK missile

systems. Others like the Akash Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile System are

heavier with a theatre air defence umbrella of up to 25 km and can be deployed

further away from the LAC for static formations, and may not be the best bet

for mountains.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 11

NATIONAL

DECEMBER 2022

8. Parliament passes the Wild Life

(Protection) Amendment Bill, 2022

which provides for better management

of protected areas.

9. Union Minister of State for External

Affairs Mr. V. Muraleedharan informs

Lok Sabha that over 16 lakh people have

given up Indian citizenship since 2011

including 1,83,741 in the year 2022.

10. Kerala Chief Minister Mr. Pinarayi

Vijayan declares a seed farm, located

at Aluva of Ernakulam district of

Kerala, as the first carbon-neutral farm

in the country.

11. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra

Modi virtually inaugurates the All India

Current Events

Institute of Ayurveda in Goa, National

Institute of Unani Medicine in

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh and National

Institute of Homoeopathy in Delhi.

H Angkor Wat temple complex in

Cambodia is being restored by India,

says External Affairs Minister Mr. S.

Jaishankar while addressing Kashi Tamil

Sangamam in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

H Senior Congress leader

Mr. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu takes oath

as the 15th Chief Minister of Himachal

Pradesh.

12. BJP leader Mr. Bhupendra Patel

takes oath as Gujarat’s 18th Chief

Minister for a second term at a highprofile ceremony in Ahmedabad.

Stealth guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao was commissioned to Indian Navy

on December 18, 2022.

12 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

Indian Railways on December 15, 2022

completed construction of country's longest

12.89 km ‘escape tunnel’ on Banihal-Katra

section of Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla

Rail Link in Jammu & Kashmir.

14. The United Nations recognises

Namami Gange, the Indian initiative to

rejuvenate its sacred river Ganga, as one

of the top 10 Water Restoration

Flagships to revive the natural world.

15. The Indian Railways completes

construction of the longest 12.89 km

“escape tunnel” in India, on the

111 km under-construction BanihalKatra section of the Udhampur Srinagar

Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) in Jammu

and Kashmir.

16. The Defence Ministry informs

Lok Sabha that the Border Roads

Organisation has constructed 64 roads

with a length of 3,097 km in Arunachal

Pradesh and 43 roads measuring 3,141-

km in Ladakh in last five years.

17. The Goods and Services Tax

(GST) Council recommends

decriminalising certain offences and

raises the threshold for launching

prosecution from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2

crore except for those linked to the

offence of issuing fake invoices.

18. Indian Naval Ship (INS)

Mormugao, the second stealth guided

missile destroyer of Visakhapatnam

class, is commissioned to the Indian

Navy.

19. Parliament passes the Constitution

(Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fourth

Amendment) Bill 2022 to include the

Betta-Kuruba community in the list of

Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Karnataka.

20. Puducherry, Lakshadweep and

Goa emerge as best-performing while

Jharkhand and Bihar as worst among

all States and UTs in the Social Progress

Index (SPI), says a report titled ‘Social

Progress Index: States and Districts of

India’.

21. Parliament passes the Maritime

Anti-Piracy Bill 2022 which provides for

prevention of maritime piracy and

stringent punishment to those convicted

of crimes related to maritime piracy.

22. The Defence Ministry gives

approval to 24 military modernisation

projects worth Rs. 84,348 crore.

23. The Union Government approves

Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid-19

vaccine, BBV154, for use as a

heterogenous booster dose for all above

18 years of age.

24. The Union Government decides

to wave off the fees for registration,

diagnosis and treatment at all 9 national

institutes and 21 associated composite

regional centres (NRCs) across States

for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

25. In his last radio broadcast ‘Mann

Ki Baat’ of the year 2022, Prime

Minister Mr. Narendra Modi asks people

to take precautions against Covid-19,

noting that the infection is spreading in

many countries.

26. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

leads the nation in commemorating the

first Veer Baal Diwas in New Delhi.

27. The Union Government and

Government of Manipur sign a tripartite

peace agreement with the insurgent

group Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF),

mostly active in Manipur.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 13

28. As part of India’s G20 Presidency,

the Union Government launches the

“Stay Safe Online” campaign and the

“G20 Digital Innovation Alliance”

(G20-DIA).

H The Union Government notifies

National Geospatial Policy 2022 which

aims to bring out a high-resolution

topographical map covering entire

country by 2030.

29. Indian Army inaugurates its firstever 3D-printed house dwelling unit for

its soldiers at Ahmedabad cantonment.

H The India-Australia Economic

Cooperation and Trade Agreement

(ECTA), signed in April 2022, comes into

effect.

H The Indian Air Force (IAF)

successfully test-fires the extended range

version of BrahMos air-launched missile

against a ship target from a SU-30MKI

aircraft.

30. Election Commission proposes

introduction of ‘remote voting’ for

domestic migrants, using an EVM that

can handle up to 72 multiple

constituencies from a single remote

polling booth.

31. India and Cyprus sign a number

of agreements in various areas including

Defence and Military Cooperation as

well as Migration and Mobility

Partnership between the two countries.

JANUARY 2023

1. The Union Finance Ministry reveals

that the gross Goods and Services Tax

(GST) revenue receipts in December

2022 stand at Rs. 1.49 lakh crore, up

15% year-on-year.

2. In a 4-1 majority verdict, a

Constitution Bench of the Supreme

Court validates the 2016 decision of the

Union Government to demonetise

currency notes of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500,

saying it was “flawless”.

3. The Supreme Court rules that no

further curbs could be imposed on the

fundamental right to freedom of speech

and the existing eight “reasonable”

restrictions under Article 19(2) of the

Constitution are “exhaustive”.

4. The Union Government approves

National Hydrogen Mission (NHM)

with an initial financial outlay of

Rs. 19,744 crore.

5. District administration halts road

and power plant construction work in

the vicinity of Joshimath in Chamoli

district of Uttarakhand as reports

emerge of deepening cracks in the

houses in the town.

6. India’s GDP growth is estimated

at 7% for 2022-23 on the back of a

rebound in services and farm sectors,

as per the first advance estimate by the

National Statistical Office.

7. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

urges Chief Secretaries of all States and

UTs to focus on quality in every sphere of

the economy and do away with “mindless

compliances”, “over-regulations” and

“outdated laws and rules”.

8. Joshimath is declared a “landslide

subsidence zone” as PMO holds a highlevel meeting while Prime Minister

Mr. Narendra Modi assures all help to

the State in ensuring safety of the

people.

The extended range version of BrahMos

air-launched missile was successfully

test-fired from an SU-30MKI aircraft

on December 29, 2022.

14 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

INTERNATIONAL

DECEMBER 2022

8. Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping

meets Arab leaders at two “milestone”

Arab Summits, namely China-Arab

Summit and China-Gulf Cooperation

Council (GCC), hosted by Saudi Arabia

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

in Riyadh.

9. Indian and Chinese troops clash

along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)

near Yangtse in the Tawang sector of

Arunachal Pradesh, resulting in minor

injuries to a few personnel from both

sides.

11. Facing an unprecedented surge in

Covid-19 cases, China sets up more

intensive care facilities and strengthens

hospitals.

12. British Prime Minister Mr. Rishi

Sunak sets out a new 5-step strategy to

clamp down on illegal immigration.

13. In a historic nuclear fusion

breakthrough, the researchers at the

Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory (LLNL) in California, US,

for the first time produce more energy

in a fusion reaction than was used to

ignite it, achieving net energy gain.

14. The G7 nations pledge $15.5

billion to help Vietnam’s transition away

from coal, as part of a Just Transition

Energy Partnership (JTEP).

15. Sri Lanka’s economy shrinks (–)

11.8% in the July-September 2022

quarter, the worst quarterly performance

in 2022, the government data shows.

16. Amidst rising regional tensions

and war fears, Japan unveils its biggest

military build-up since World War II

with a $320 billion plan to buy missiles

capable of striking China and ready the

country for sustained conflict.

17. Indian-origin Mr. Leo Varadkar

returns as Ireland’s Prime Minister for

a second term following a job-sharing

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin

Salman greets Chinese President

Mr. Xi Jinping during the GCC Summit

in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

on December 8, 2022.

deal by the country’s centrist coalition

government.

18. European Union reaches an

agreement on major carbon market

reforms, aiming to accelerate emissions

cuts, phase out free allowances to

industries and targets fuel emissions from

the building and the road transport

sectors.

19. Governments from across the

world sign a once-in-a-decade global

deal to protect 30% of the world’s land

and seas by 2030 at the United Nations

Biodiversity Summit of COP15 in

Montreal, Canada.

20. Ignoring international outrage

over curbs and brutality against women,

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan issue

orders to impose a nationwide ban on

university education for females.

21. The United Nations Security

Council (UNSC) adopts its first-ever

resolution on Myanmar, demanding an

immediate end to violence and release

of all “arbitrarily detained” prisoners.

23. China’s top health authority

estimates that 39 million people may

have been affected by Covid-19 as on

December 20, 2022 which makes the

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 15

country’s fresh outbreak the world’s

largest.

24. The two-time coup leader and

former PM Mr. Sitiveni ‘Rambo’ Rabuka

takes oath as Fiji’s 12th Prime Minister

in the capital Suva.

25. China is ready to work with India

for the “steady and sound growth” of

bilateral relations, says Chinese Foreign

Minister Mr. Wang Yi in Beijing.

26. Several drones from North Korea

cross the heavily armed western border

into South Korean airspace, provoking

military action by Seoul and further

raising tensions in the peninsula.

27. Communist Party of Nepal—

Maoist Centre (CPN-MC) Chairman

Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’

takes oath as the Prime Minister of

Nepal for the third time.

28. The United Nations Security

Council, under the presidency of India,

voices concern over restrictions on

women’s and girls’ education and work

imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan.

29. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu takes

oath as Israel’s Prime Minister for the

sixth time, taking the helm of the most

right-wing government in the country’s

history.

30. China appoints its Ambassador

to the US, Mr. Qin Gang, as the new

Foreign Minister amidst signs of moving

back to a lower-key diplomatic strategy

after a growing backlash against its

confrontational style.

31. Croatia bids farewell to its

currency Kuno and switches to Euro as

well as enters Europe’s passport-free

Eurozone in two landmark steps since

joining the European Union nearly a

decade ago.

JANUARY 2023

1. Nepal’s Prime Minister Mr. Pushpa

Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ inaugurates a

regional international airport built with

the Chinese assistance in western

Nepal’s tourist hub of Pokhra.

H Leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da

Silva takes oath as Brazil’s President for

a third time, under tightened security in

the capital Brasilia.

2. A temporary two-year ban on

foreigners buying residential property

comes into effect in Canada.

4. Russian President Mr. Vladimir

Putin sends off a frigate towards the

Atlantic and Indian Oceans armed with

new hypersonic Zircon cruise missiles.

6. China protests as a US navy

destroyer, the USS Chung-Hoon, sails

through the Taiwan strait in a

“demonstration of the US commitment

to a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

7. Democrats’ hold on the US

Congress ends as Republican Mr. Kevin

McCarthy is elected Speaker of the US

House of Representatives.

8. Thousands of Chinese travellers

return home for family reunions, some

delayed by as long as three years, as

China finally opens its borders and

dismantles last remnants of its “zeroCovid” regime.

Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal

‘Prachanda’ took oath as Nepal’s

Prime Minister for the third time on

December 27, 2022.

16 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

SPORTS

DECEMBER 2022

10. Ishan Kishan smashes the fastest

double hundred off just 126 balls in the

history of ODI cricket as visiting India

beats Bangladesh by 227 runs in the 3rd

and final match in Chattogram but loses

the series 1-2.

12. Former England skipper Joe Root

becomes only the third cricketer in

history to score 10,000 runs and pick

up 50 wickets in Test cricket during 2nd

Test against Pakistan in Multan.

15. Spaniard Rafael Nadal and Polish

Iga Swiatek are named ITF World

Champions 2022.

17. Indian women hockey team beats

Spain 1-0 in the final to win the inaugural

FIH Nations Cup at Valencia, Spain.

H Indian swimmer Chahat Arora clocks

32.91s to set a new national record in the

women’s 50m breaststroke at the FINA

World Swimming Championships 2022

in Melbourne, Australia.

H India beats Bangladesh by 120 runs

to win their third consecutive title in

the 3rd T20 World Cup for the Blind at

Bengaluru.

H Jaipur Pink Panthers beats Puneri

Paltan 33-29 in the final to win 9th Pro

Kabaddi League (PKL) in Mumbai.

18. Lionel Messi captains Argentina

to World Cup 2022 glory as his team

overcomes defending champions France

on penalties after a thrilling game ended

3-3 in extra time at the Lusail Stadium

in Qatar.

24. Two-time Olympic medallist P.V.

Sindhu becomes the only Indian athlete

to appear in Forbes’ list of the highestpaid female athletes in the world,

coming in at 12th place.

25. India beats Bangladesh by 3 wickets

in the 2nd and final Test to clinch series

2-0 in the Mirpur, Bangladesh.

29. The world mourns the demise of

international football legend and

transformative figure in sports, Pele,

who takes last breath at a hospital in

Sao Paulo, Brazil.

30. Indian ace Koneru Humpy comes

up with a superb performance to claim

the silver medal in the women’s section

of the FIDE World Blitz Chess

Championship in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

JANUARY 2023

3. Hardik Pandya-led Team India wins

dramatic first T20I against Sri Lanka by

2 runs in a thriller played at Wankhede

Stadium in Mumbai.

4. Saurashtra’s Jaydev Unadkat makes

Ranji Trophy history by becoming the

first bowler to take a hat-trick in the

first over in a career-best 8-wicket haul

during the Elite Group B match in

Rajkot, Gujarat.

6. M. Pranesh from Tamil Nadu

becomes India’s 79th Chess

Grandmaster while clinching the Rilton

Cup title in Stockholm, Sweden.

7. Suryakumar Yadav shines with

explosive 45-ball century as India defeats

Sri Lanka by 91 runs in the third and

final T20I in Rajkot to win another series

at home 2-1.

Proof-5

07-12-2022

Argentina captain Lionel Messi led his

team to lift the FIFA World Cup 2022

trophy on December 18, 2022.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 17

HONOURS & AWARDS

DECEMBER 2022

7. Time magazine names Ukrainian

President Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky as

its Person of the Year 2022.

8. Mr. Nilesh Desai of Madhya

Pradesh (for Constructive Works),

Mr. Mansukhbhai Prajapati of Gujarat

(for Application of Science and

Technology for Rural Development),

Ms. Sophia Saik of Odisha (for

Development and Welfare of Women

and Children) and Dr. Ogirat Younan

and Dr. Walid Slyabi of Lebanon (for

Promoting Gandhian Values outside

India) win Jamnalal Bajaj 2022 awards.

18. India’s Mrs. Sargam Kaushal wins

Mrs. World 2022 pageant hosted in Las

Vegas, USA, to bring back the crown

to India 21 years after Mrs. Aditi

Govitrikar won it in 2001.

19. Mr. Sudeep Sen and Mr. Shobhana

Kumar jointly win the Rabindranath

Tagore Literary Prize 2021-22 for their

works Anthropocene: Climate Change,

Contagion, Consolation and A Sky Full of

Bucket Lists, respectively.

20. Mr. Sethrichem Sangtam, who

runs an NGO that works with farmers

in eastern Nagaland, is conferred the

first Rohini Nayyar Prize for outstanding

contribution to rural development.

22. Mr. M. Rajendran (Tamil, Kaala

Paani, novel), Mr. Gulam Mohammad

Shaikh (Gujarati, Gher Jatan,

autobiographical essays), Mr. Badri

Narayan (Hindi, Tumadi Ke Shabd,

poetry), Ms. Anuradha Roy (English,

All The Lives We Never Lived, novel),

Mr. Anis Ashfaq (Urdu, Khawab Saraab,

novel) and Mr. Janardan Prasad Pandey

‘Mani’ (Sanskrit, Deepmanikyam, poetry),

figure among the writers and litterateurs

who have been chosen for Sahitya

Akademi 2022 awards.

H India’s Ms. Shalini Kumari receives

the first prize in the Grassroots Innovation

Competition at the 3rd ASEAN-India

Grassroots Innovator Forum.

24. Indian cyclist Ms. Swati Singh is

conferred the prestigious 30th 2022

Ekalabya Puraskar.

JANUARY 2023

2. Guyana’s President Mr. Mohamed

Irfaan Ali, US-based businessman

Mr. Darshan Singh Dhaliwal and

Singapore’s DBS Bank CEO Mr. Piyush

Gupta are named among 27 recipients

of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

2023.

4. Odisha wins the UN Habitat’s

World Habitat Awards 2023 for its Jaga

Mission, a 5T initiative, which is the

world’s largest land tilting and slum

upgrading programme, aiming at

empowering the lives of slum dwellers.

7. Mr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the

Chief Justice of India, is selected for

the “2022 Award for Global

Leadership”.

India's Mrs. Sargam Kaushal on

December 18, 2022 became

‘Mrs World 2022’, bringing the title

back to India after 21 years.

18 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

DECEMBER 2022

8. The Institute of Remote Sensing, a

unit of the ISRO, is all set to develop

a Spatial Data Infrastructure Geoportal,

named “Geo Ladakh”, for the Union

Territory of Ladakh, says the Union

Minister of State for Science &

Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh.

9. The ISRO and Headquarters of the

Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS)

jointly conduct and successfully

complete hypersonic vehicles trials,

achieving all required parameters and

demonstrated hypersonic vehicle

capabilities.

12. To promote the use of

‘NAVigation with the Indian

Constellation’ (NavIC), the Indian

version of GPS, the Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO) gets all

set to introduce the L1 frequency in all

its future satellites.

15. India successfully carries out night

trials of the Agni-5 nuclear-capable

ballistic missile from A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Island in Odisha that has the capability

to hit targets beyond 5,000 kilometres.

16. The US National Aeronautics and

Space Administration launches the

newest Earth Science satellite to track

nearly all the water on Earth’s surface.

The Surface Water and Ocean

Topography spacecraft is launched atop

a SpaceX rocket from California with a

prime mission of three years.

25. Indian Institute of Technology

(IIT) Kanpur announces that it is ready

with an artificial heart, developed by a

team of 10 scientists and doctors, which

will be of great help to people with acute

cardiac problems.

28. SpaceX launches first 54 satellites

of the new generation or v2.0 or Gen2,

atop its Falcon 9 launch vehicle, from

the Space Launch Complex 40 of the US

Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral,

Florida, to deploy them in low-earth orbit.

JANUARY 2023

1. The Indian Space and Research

Organisation, National Centre for Earth

Sciences, and the Andhra University set

up equipment across the sea beaches in

Andhra Pradesh to predict rip currents

that have become a danger to the beach

visitors.

5. Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra

Singh inaugurates National Genome

Editing & Training Centre, a one-roof

state-of-the-art facility to serve as national

platform for adopting different genome

editing methods, at National Agri-food

Biotechnology Institute (NABI) Mohali

in Punjab.

8. New images taken by NASA’s

James Webb Telescope reveal galaxies

with stellar bars—elongated features of

stars that stretch from the centres of

galaxies into the outer disk—dating back

to a time when the universe was just

25% of its present age.

Proof-3

07-12-2022

India on December 15, 2022 successfully

carried out night trials of Agni-5 nuclearcapable ballistic missile from A.P.J. Abdul

Kalam Island in Odisha.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 19

INDIA OF MY DREAMS

“Winners don’t do different things, they do

things differently.” In the spirit of this

saying, winners, achievers, visionaries,

game changers abound in plenty in the

India of my dreams. As also envisioned

by Swami Vivekananda, in my

dream country, there will be men and

women with “iron muscles and nerves

of steel, inside which dwells a mind of

the same material of which the

thunderbolt is made.”

Indeed India is a developing country

but is also the one with enormous still

untapped potential. It has already

excelled in many areas such as Space

Research, Pharmacy, Nuclear Research,

Computer and IT, etc. but there are still

miles to go, before it becomes a

developed country in all respects. India

has a vast amount of natural resources

but due to lack of technology and poor

infrastructure, the country hasn’t been

able to harness them to fullest extent.

The following are some of my thoughts

on how an ideal India should be.

The India of my dreams would be a

country where all individuals will have

equal opportunities to thrive and

succeed. It would be the best nation in

all good regards. The people would be

united and there would be no conflicts

among the citizens. The crime rate

would be 0% and citizens would feel

safe to live in the country and to

commute at any time of the day. The

military strength of the country would

be the best in the world but the military

would be used in only unavoidable

circumstances, particularly when issues

could not be solved by peaceful means.

The country would be peaceful and

establish friendly relations with as many

countries as possible.

In India of my dreams, basic primary

education would be free and it would be

compulsory for each and every individual

to get basic primary education. Good

higher education facilities would not be

restricted to only the rich but would be

equally and affordably accessible by every

individual. I dream of India’s literacy

rate to be 100%. Education facilities and

the quality of education would be the

very best and people of foreign countries

would come to India for education.

Cleanliness and public hygiene would be

taken seriously and pure drinking water

would be available to all. Public transport

facilities would be highly developed and

quality and frequency of public transport

would be excellent. Medical and

pharmaceutical facilities would be at par

with the best in the world and would be

pocket-friendly and easily accessible for

all. People from abroad would come to

take treatment in India.

I dream of an India where students,

who excel in sports and want to take

sports as a full-time career, would be

JUNIOR ESSAY CONTESTS 913 & 914

ARCHIT GIRISH DANDAVATE

First Prize Winner

20 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

MY AMBITION IN LIFE

encouraged and top-class facilities would

be made available to them. This would

result in India excelling in world sports

events and tournaments as the talented

would be trained from a young age.

I look forward to an India whose

economy would be the largest and mostdeveloped in the world. The GDP would

be the best in the world and the amount

of exports would far exceed imports.

India’s per capita income would be

highest in the world and India would be

home to majority of billionaires. India

would be corruption-free and if any of

the government officials, public servants

and bureaucrats were caught taking

bribes, they would be severely punished.

This would be the New India—a great

country, a land of peace, prosperity and

truthfulness where no one would be

afraid of speaking the truth. It would

be a country where women would be

unequivocally respected, people of all

religions would amicably coexist and

where every citizen would be proud to

be an Indian. It would be a country free

from violence, terrorism, hunger and

suffering.

This is my vision of an ideal India. I

would like to end with this quote by

Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath

Tagore:

“Where the mind is without fear and the

head is held high;

Where knowledge is free,

Where the world has not been broken down

into fragments,

By narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depths of

truth,

And tireless striving stretches its arms

towards perfection;

Into that heaven of freedom, My Father,

Let my country awake!” ❑

The great visionary Swami

Vivekananda said, “A man is not poor

without a Rupee, but a man is really

poor without a dream and ambition.”

This statement emphasises the

importance of ambition and dreams in

the life of a human being.

I too dream of climbing the ladder of

success some fine day by the dint of my

talent, perseverance and determination.

I want to be a dynamic Computer

Engineer and write my own destiny. It is

a journey of thousand miles and I am

prepared to give my best. I understand

that achieving this rosy dream of

becoming a Computer Engineer is full

of challenges and tough competition.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had said, “A

dream is not that which you see while

sleeping, it is something that does not

let you sleep”. I will work to the best of

my ability and work on my weaknesses

till the time “the world calls my signature

an autograph.”

Computer Engineers are those who

create a better world and make life

comfortable. I realised that I have a

profound and deep interest in this field

very early in my childhood. I am

fascinated by new technology; software

excite me and intrigue me beyond words.

The benefits of this profession are a

good pay package, job security and an

opportunity to innovate and explore the

beauty of the computer world. In this

long journey to become a Computer

Engineer, the achievers and game

changers like Steve Jobs and Dr. A.P.J.

Abdul Kalam are the lighthouses on my

way—they inspire me by their precious

thoughts and deeds, they encourage and

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 21

motivate me by their profound, life

changing quotes.

Steve Jobs in his commencement

address to Stanford University students

in 2005 said, “Your time is limited. Don’t

waste it by living somebody else’s life.

Don’t be trapped in dogma.” I want to

make mistakes because this is the way I

learn. I want to follow the beat of my

own drum. Life is worthless if it is

aimless. History is witness to the fact

that ordinary people have achieved

extraordinary success by their goalsetting skills and talent.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam inspires me

by his words, deeds and thoughts. His

reaction to failure serves as a dose of

positivity in this strife-ridden world. He

worked harder when he met failure and

did not get disheartened by it. Dr. Kalam

was a poet, technocrat, writer, teacher

and above all, a good human being. He

was great dreamer and he transformed

his dreams into actions. I too like to

dream and will strive ceaselessly to

convert my dreams into reality. He was

a true patriot and served our motherland

till his last breath. I too want to

contribute my mite in the task of nation

building. Dr. Kalam said that only three

types of people have the capacity to

bring about a change in society i.e. a

student, a mother and a teacher. Though

he reached great heights he was humble

to the core. I will try to imbibe these

qualities in my personality.

Once the noted Indian industrialist

Mr. Ratan Tata, while guiding the

B-School Management students at a

Convocation instructed them: “Do not

count your success or luxuries by the

amount of money in your bank account.

Instead count your riches by the number

of lives that you have enriched during

the journey of your life.” I too want to

help the helpless, motivate the depressed

MS. NIDA SHAIKH

FIRST PRIZE WINNER

and be a guiding star for those lost in

the storm.

“Lives of great men all remind us,

We can make our lives sublime,

And departing leaves behind us,

Footprints on the sands of Time.”

These sublime words of H.W.

Longfellow continue to instil confidence

and courage in me whenever I feel

dejected.

Ambition for me is not just career

prospects or achievement of material

glory. I want to enrich my life in all

areas, including physical, mental,

emotional, spiritual and economic

aspects. In the various roles that I play

as a girl, daughter, student, professional,

a citizen of this great country and above

all a human being, I will try to make

this world a better place to live in. I

want to be strong, dynamic and make a

positive difference in the lives of those

around me.

“Arise, awake and stop not till your

goal is reached…” these inspiring words

of Swami Vivekananda will guide me in

my journey to my dream destination.

By the grace of the Almighty, with the

blessings of my beloved parents and my

own dedicated efforts, I am sure to reach

my El Dorado. ❑

22 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

JUNIOR ESSAY CONTESTS

THERE IS NO ENTRY FEE. Entries should be typed double-spaced on one side of the

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violation of the Copyright Act where the material submitted for the Contests is not original.

Editor’s decision will be final and binding. No correspondence will be entertained in this regard.

Entries via Email with scanned photographs are to be

considered on a par with those in usual format.

Entries should be marked “Junior Essay Contests—917 & 918”

Length : 750 Words

Eligible age group : 15-21 Years

LAST DATE : FEBRUARY 10, 2023

Please write your Name, Mobile No., Email, Address, City, State, Pin Code to :

Competition Review Pvt. Ltd.

604 Prabhat Kiran, Rajendra Place, New Delhi-110125

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1

st Prize for each contest :

Study Material (worth Rs. 1,500)

2 TOPICS

Contest 917 : Swami Vivekananda

Contest 918 : A Football Match

42 Highly Commendable Prizes : India & The World

Wall Maps worth Rs. 150 plus a Certificate of Merit.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 23

1. What is the mass of a material,

whose specific heat capacity is 400 J/

(kg °C) for a rise in temperature from

15 °C to 25 °C, when heat received is

20 kJ ?

(a) 0.1 kg (b) 1 kg

(c) 10 kg (d) 5 kg

2. The specific latent heat of

vaporisation of a substance is the

quantity of heat needed to change unit

mass from

(a) liquid to vapour with a change of

temperature

(b) liquid to vapour without a change

of temperature

(c) vapour to liquid without a change

of temperature

(d) vapour to liquid with a change of

temperature

3. Evaporation from the surface of

a given liquid takes place more rapidly

when

(a) the temperature is high and the

surface area of the liquid is large

(b) the temperature is low and the

surface area of the liquid is large

(c) the temperature is low and the

surface area of the liquid is small

(d) the temperature is high and the

surface area of the liquid is small

4. Which of the following

statements correctly explains/explain the

existence of a positive force between

two electric charges?

1. Both the charges are positive.

2. Both the charges are negative.

3. Both the charges are oppositely

charged.

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 only (b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 2 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

5. An electric wire of resistance 50

ohm is cut into five equal wires. These

wires are then connected in parallel.

What is the equivalent resistance of this

combination?

(a) 2 ohm (b) 10 ohm

(c) 0.5 ohm (d) 5 ohm

6. The electric field lines from an

isolated positively charged conducting

sphere are

(a) tangential to the conducting surface

(b) at right angles to the conducting

surface and towards the centre of

the sphere

(c) at any angle to the conducting

surface

(d) at right angles to the conducting

surface and outwards from the

centre of the sphere

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE

22-12-2022; Proof-3

24 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

7. Which one of the following is not

a solution?

(a) Alloy (b) Milk

(c) Air (d) Sugar

8. Refining of petroleum is carried

out using which one of the following

techniques?

(a) Evaporation

(b) Fractional distillation

(c) Separating funnel

(d) Sublimation

9. Which one of the following is a

chemical change?

(a) Dissolving sugar in water

(b) Melting of ice

(c) Crystallisation

(d) Milk turning sour

10. Which one of the following is the

correct molecular formula of

ammonium carbonate if the valency of

ammonium ion is (+1) and carbonate

anion is (–2) ?

(a) (NH4

)

2

CO3

(b) NH4

(CO3

)

2

(c) (NH3

)

2

CO3

(d) NH4

CO3

11. Which one of the following is a

covalent compound?

(a) Calcium oxide

(b) Sodium nitride

(c) Silicon carbide

(d) Zinc sulphide

12. The mass number of argon is 40.

Which one of the following statements

is correct?

(a) The number of protons in argon

is 22.

(b) The number of neutrons in argon

is 18.

(c) The number of electrons in argon

is 18.

(d) The sum of numbers of protons

and electrons in argon is 40.

13. Which one of the following is the

correct order of the valencies of

elements Ne, Si, N and Mg ?

(a) Ne < Mg < N < Si

(b) Si < N < Mg < Ne

(c) Ne <N < Si < Mg

(d) Mg < Ne < N < Si

14. The frequency of an alternating

current is 3 Hz. It implies that

(a) there are 6 cycles/s

(b) there are 3 cycles/s

(c) there are 2 cycles/s

(d) there is only 1 cycle/s

15. Which one of the following

correctly represents the SI unit of

resistivity?

(a)
(b)
/ m

(c)
cm (d)
m

16. What is the current required to

light a 60 W incandescent bulb in a

domestic supply of 240 V ?

(a) 0.5 A (b) 0.25 A

(c) 1.0 A (d) 5.0 A

17. The magnetic field produced by a

current-carrying straight wire at a point

outside the wire depends

(a) inversely on the distance from it.

(b) directly on the distance from it.

(c) inversely at short distances and

directly at large distances from it.

(d) directly on the distance (at short

distances) and inversely on the

distance (at long distances) from it.

18. What is the dimension of

gravitational constant?

(a) ML3

T

-2 (b) M-1L

3

T

-2

(c) M2

L

-2T

-2 (d) M2

L

-1T

-2

19. A ball is thrown vertically upward

with a speed of 40 m/s. The time taken

by the ball to reach the maximum height

would be approximately

(a) 2 s (b) 3 s

(c) 4 s (d) 5 s

20. The time period of a 1 m long

pendulum approximates to

(a) 6 s (b) 4 s

(c) 2 s (d) 1 s

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 25

21. Which of the following

statements about living and non-living

being is/are correct?

1. While living being can

demonstrate growth and repair,

non-living being cannot.

2. While living being demonstrates

metabolic processes, non-living

being does not.

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 only (b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

22. Which one of the following plant

plastids stores starch, oil and protein

granules?

(a) Chloroplast (b) Leucoplast

(c) Chromoplast (d) Xanthoplast

23. Which one of the following

statements about 'vacuoles' is not

correct?

(a) In plants, there is a large central

vacuole that may occupy 90% of

total cell volume.

(b) In plant cells, vacuoles provide

turgidity and rigidity.

(c) In Amoeba, vacuoles have role in

nutrition.

(d) Vacuoles are absent in animal cells.

24. In aquatic plants, large air sacs

give them buoyancy effects. These sacs

are surrounded by which one of the

following types of tissues?

(a) Parenchyma (b) Collenchyma

(c) Sclerenchyma (d) Complex tissue

25. Which one of the following

belongs to ‘Pisces’?

(a) Dogfish (b) Jellyfish

(c) Silverfish (d) Starfish

26. Which one of the following

groups is called 'amphibians of plant

kingdom' ?

(a) Bryophytes (b) Thallophytes

(c) Pteridophytes (d) Gymnosperms

27. Which one of the following is

caused by a bacterial pathogen?

(a) AIDS (b) Dengue fever

(c) COVID-19 (d) Typhoid fever

28. The twinkling of a star is due to

the atmospheric

(a) diffraction of starlight

(b) reflection of starlight

(c) refraction of starlight

(d) dispersion of starlight

29. A mass M is dragged by a pulley

on a horizontal plane by a force antiparallel to its displacement. The work

done in pulling the mass M is

(a) zero (b) positive

(c) infinite (d) negative

30. A 5 N force is defined when a

mass of 10 kg is accelerated with

(a) 5.0 cm/s2

(b) 0.5 m/s2

(c) 0.5 cm/s2

(d) 5.0 m/s2

31. A boy of mass 52 kg jumps with

a horizontal velocity of 2 m/s onto a

stationary cart of mass 3 kg. The cart is

fixed with frictionless wheels. Which one

of the following would be the speed of

the cart?

(a) 2.15 m/s (b) 1.89 m/s

(c) 1.51 m/s (d) 2.51 m/s

32. The energy possessed by a body

due to its change in position or shape is

called

(a) thermal energy

(b) potential energy

(c) kinetic energy

(d) electric energy

33. A sound wave has a frequency of

1 kHz and wavelength 50 cm. How long

will it take to travel 1 km?

(a) 5 s (b) 4 s (c) 3 s (d) 2 s

34. For an element with atomic

number 35, which one of the following

will be the correct number of electrons

in its valence shell based on Bohr's

model of an atom?

(a) 1 (b) 3 (c) 5 (d) 7

26 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

35. Which one of the following is not

an example of a redox reaction?

(a) AlCl3

+ 3H2O Al(OH)3

+ 3HCl

(b) 2NaH  2Na + H2

(c) 4Fe + 3O2  2Fe2O3

(d) CuSO4

+ Zn  Cu + ZnSO4

36. Which one of the following

allotropes of carbon is isomorphous

with crystalline silicon?

(a) Coke

(b) Diamond

(c) Graphite

(d) Coal

37. Which one of the following is

the colour of hydrogen gas?

(a) Light yellow

(b) Orange

(c) Black

(d) Colourless

38. Which one of the following is not

a pigment?

(a) Zinc oxide (b) Chalk

(c) White lead (d) Silica

39. Which one of the following

statements about fertilisers is not

correct?

(a) Urea is a phosphorus-containing

fertiliser.

(b) Application of fertiliser to the soil

increases fertility of the soil.

(c) Urea can be prepared by action

of ammonia and carbon dioxide

under high pressure and at high

temperature.

(d) Urea contains more nitrogen than

other fertilisers.

40. Which one of the following

statements is not correct?

(a) Most carbon compounds are good

conductors of electricity.

(b) Bonding in organic compounds is

covalent.

(c) Graphite is used as a lubricant.

(d) Diamond is an allotrope of

carbon.

41. Which one of the following reactions is an example of decomposition

reaction?

(a) CH4

(g) + 2O2

(g) CO2

(g) +

2H2O(g)

(b) 2AgCl(s) Sunlight  2Ag(s) +

Cl2

(g)

(c) CuO + H2 Heat Cu + H2O

(d) Fe(s) + CuSO4

(aq)  FeSO4

(aq)

+ Cu(s)

42. Which one of the following is the

mechanism of action of oral

contraceptive pills?

(a) They kill the egg.

(b) They kill the sperm.

(c) They kill the zygote.

(d) They inhibit the release of egg.

43. Which one of the following plants

has unisexual flowers?

(a) Papaya (b) Hibiscus

(c) Mustard (d) Sunflower

44. A cell is unable to synthesise lipids.

Which of its cell organelles might be

defective?

(a) Smooth endoplasmic reticulum

(b) Golgi bodies

(c) Lysosomes

(d) Mitochondria

45. All objects experience a buoyancy

when they are immersed in a fluid.

Buoyancy is

(a) a downward force

(b) a downward pressure

(c) an upward force

(d) an upward pressure

28 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

46. According to Fleming's right-hand

rule, if the forefinger indicates the

direction of magnetic field and thumb

shows the direction of motion of

conductor, then the stretched middle

finger will predict the direction of

(a) force acting on the conductor

(b) electric field

(c) induced current

(d) current

47. Two resistors R1

and R2

arranged

in parallel combination in an electrical

closed circuit are made of the same

material and of same thickness. If the

length of R2

is twice the length of R1

,

then the total resistance R satisfies

(a) 3R = 2R1

(b) 3R = 2R2

(c) 2R = 3R1

(d) 2R = 3R2

48. What is the magnification

produced by a concave lens of focal

length 10 cm, when an image is formed

at a distance of 5 cm from the lens?

(a) 2.0 (b) 1.0

(c) 0.5 (d) 0.33

49. A wooden box of mass 2 kg and

dimensions (30 cm × 15 cm × 10 cm)

is placed on a table with sides 30 cm

and 10 cm touching the tabletop. Which

one of the following is the approximate

pressure exerted on the table?

(a) 111.1 N/m2

(b) 222.2 N/m2

(c) 333.3 N/m2

(d) 666.6 N/m2

50. Why are the tyres of aircrafts

made of conducting rubber?

1. So that the charge accumulated

on the aircraft in flight, by rubbing

the air, can easily be transferred

to ground on landing.

2. So that the charge accumulated

due to the operation of various

electronic equipments in the

aircraft in flight can easily be

transferred to ground on landing.

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

51. Arthashastra, the classical work of

Indian political thought, focuses

primarily on

(a) economy

(b) culture

(c) statecraft

(d) monarchy

52. When did Charaka Samhita

originate?

(a) 6th Century BCE

(b) 3rd to 2nd Century BCE

(c) 4th Century BCE

(d) 5th Century BCE

53. Early Buddhist sculptors did not

show Buddha in human form. Through

which of the following symbols was

Buddha's presence shown by the early

sculptors?

(a) Empty Seat and Stupa only

(b) Wheel and Tree only

(c) Wheel, Tree and Stupa only

(d) Empty Seat, Wheel, Tree and

Stupa

54. The Parliament of India is

primarily based on the model of

(a) German Parliament

(b) British Parliament

(c) American Congress

(d) French Parliament

55. Who among the following had the

shortest span in office as the Prime

Minister of India?

(a) Lal Bahadur Shastri

(b) Chaudhary Charan Singh

(c) Chandra Shekhar

(d) H. D. Deve Gowda

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 29

56. Which one of the following does

not fall under the jurisdiction of the

apex court of India?

(a) Original Jurisdiction

(b) Appellate Jurisdiction

(c) Collegiate Jurisdiction

(d) Advisory Jurisdiction

57. According to the Indian

Meteorological Department, which of

the following is/are the feature/ features

of cloudburst?

1. Heavy precipitation in short

period of time in a limited

geographical area

2. It occurs generally during

monsoon period and triggers flash

flood and landslides

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

58. In a group discussion on shape

and size of the Earth, three students

stated the following points :

1. Student 1 : The shape of the

Earth is basically an oblate

spheroid.

2. Student 2 : The polar diameter

of the Earth is more than the

equatorial diameter.

3. Student 3 : Bulge along the

equatorial region is due to

revolution of the Earth.

Who among the above students is/

are correct?

(a) Student 1 only

(b) Student 1 and Student 2 only

(c) Student 2 and Student 3 only

(d) Student 1, Student 2 and Student 3

59. While watching news, you hear

about a place, of which you had never

heard earlier. You want to know more

about the place and you want to locate

it on the map. Which of the following

is/are required for you to be able to

locate the place on the map?

(a) Only latitude of the place

(b) Only longitude of the place

(c) Both longitude and latitude of the

place

(d) Latitude, longitude and altitude of

the place

60. Which one of the following

statements with respect to Global

Positioning System (GPS) is not correct?

(a) It is based on network of satellites

orbiting above the Earth.

(b) It is based on the system of

triangulation.

(c) GPS receivers provide location in

terms of latitude, longitude and

altitude.

(d) It provides information exclusively

for military operations.

61. Which one of the following is

not a Constitutional Commission of

India?

(a) The National Commission for

Scheduled Castes

(b) The National Commission for

Scheduled Tribes

(c) The National Commission for

Backward Classes

(d) The National Commission for

Women

62. Which Chinese traveller in ancient

India wrote the diary called 'Records of

the Travels to Middle India’?

(a) Wang Xuance (b) Xuanzang

(c) Yijing (d) Li Yibiao

63. The elections to the Lower House

of Parliament of India, held in 2019,

constituted the

(a) 14th Lok Sabha

(b) 15th Lok Sabha

(c) 16th Lok Sabha

(d) 17th Lok Sabha

30 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

64. Panchayati Raj Institutions are

primarily the institutions of

(a) Popular Government

(b) Self-Government

(c) Federal Government

(d) Quasi-Government

65. Which of the following is/are the

right/rights mentioned in the 'American

Declaration of Independence'?

1. Life

2. Liberty

3. Pursuit of Happiness

4. Fraternity

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 1, 2 and 3 (d) 2, 3 and 4

66. Who among the following

American Presidents described

democracy as \"Government of the

People, for the People and by the

People\"?

(a) Abraham Lincoln

(b) Thomas Jefferson

(c) George Washington

(d) John F. Kennedy

67. Inhabitants are unaware of the

speed of rotation of the planet Earth

because

1. the angular velocity is constant for

each place on the Earth’s surface.

2. the atmosphere rotates with the

Earth.

3. there are no nearby objects,

either stationary or moving at a

rate different from that of the

Earth.

Which of the above is/are the correct

explanation(s)?

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

68. While travelling to a hilly region,

you notice a massive boulder, which was

loosened by heavy rains and moved

downhill. This has resulted due to which

of the following processes?

1. Mass wasting

2. Erosion

3. Weathering

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

69. Which of the following statements

in respect of landslides are correct?

1. These occur only on gentle slopes

during rain.

2. They generally occur in clay-rich

soil.

3. Earthquakes trigger landslides.

Select the correct answer using the

code given below.

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

70. Consider the following features

about a geographical phenomenon :

1. Torrents of snow and ice roaring

down a steep mountain side

2. It is hazardous to skiers and

mountaineers

3. It involves a mix of falling, rolling,

sliding and flowing of materials

Which of the following phenomena

can be identified with the above features?

(a) Slump and earthflow

(b) Avalanche

(c) Landslide

(d) Rockslide

32 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

71. The real beginning of western

education in India can be dated from

(a) the Charter Act of 1813

(b) the Charter Act of 1793

(c) the Sarda Act of 1929

(d) the Macaulay's Minute on Indian

Education, 1835

72. The term 'Industrial Revolution'

was first used by

(a) J. A. Blanqui

(b) T. S. Ashton

(c) Arnold Toynbee

(d) R. H. Tawney

73. The Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants

of the God) was organised

by

(a) Mahatma Gandhi

(b) Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

(c) M. A. Jinnah

(d) M. M. Malaviya

74. The Mahad Satyagraha of 1927

was organised by

(a) B. R. Ambedkar

(b) Mahatma Gandhi

(c) S. C. Bose

(d) Lokmanya Tilak

75. The Satyashodhak Samaj (TruthSeeking Society) was set up by

(a) Vinoba Bhave

(b) Jyotiba Phule

(c) B. R. Ambedkar

(d) C. Rajagopalachari

76. The 13th Century text

Lekhapaddhati gives us information on

which one of the following topics?

(a) Art of writing

(b) Essay writing

(c) Legal document

(d) Epigraphic style

77. Nkrumah was one of the five

leaders, who comprised the core of the

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). He

was the leader of which country in

Africa?

(a) Nigeria

(b) Kenya

(c) Uganda

(d) Ghana

78. The idea of Planning in

Independent India was drawn from

(a) the Bombay Plan

(b) the demand made by peasants

(c) the demand made by workers'

unions

(d) the Gandhian vision of India's

future

79. Nisarga, Gati, Nivar, Tauktae and

Yaas are names of

(a) new fighter aircrafts

(b) tourist places

(c) weather stations

(d) cyclones

80. Which one of the following

States/UTs was connected with the

Indian Railways network in the year

2021?

(a) Mizoram

(b) Ladakh

(c) Manipur

(d) Sikkim

81. The forests of Uttarakhand, Kullu

Valley in Himachal Pradesh and Dzukou

Valley in Nagaland and Manipur were

in the news on account of which one

of the following reasons?

(a) Deforestation

(b) Forest fire

(c) Poaching of wild animals

(d) Illegal mining

82. Which one of the following is

correct in respect of total number of

States and Union Territories in India?

(a) 28 States and 8 Union Territories

(b) 27 States and 9 Union Territories

(c) 30 States and 6 Union Territories

(d) 29 States and 7 Union Territories

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 33

83. Snow, sleet and hail are the forms

of

(a) precipitation

(b) condensation

(c) transpiration

(d) evaporation

84. Which one of the following is

likely to be the most prevalent form of

weathering in hot-tropical desert areas?

(a) Mechanical (b) Chemical

(c) Biological (d) Leaching

85. Which one of the following cities

was the first to attain the status of a

‘megacity’?

(a) London

(b) Paris

(c) New York

(d) Washington

86. In India, rigid and stable elevated

lands, denuded rocks and series of

scarps are the features of which of the

following?

(a) Northern mountains

(b) Peninsular plateau

(c) Northern plains

(d) Coastal plains

87. A person had visited a region in

India and found trees, such as Khair,

Neem, Khejri and Palas. Which one of

the following regions is she/he expected

to have visited?

(a) Malabar Coast

(b) Garo Hills

(c) Sunderban Delta

(d) Desert Region

88. Consider the following

statements :

1. Rocks do not remain in their

original form for long and

undergo transformation.

2. Transformation of rocks is caused

by weathering, erosion and

metamorphic action.

Which of the statements given above

is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

89. Weathering, mass wasting, erosion

and transportation are indicators

of which one of the following

processes?

(a) Denudation

(b) Endogenetic process

(c) Diastrophism

(d) Mountain building

90. If you want to observe moraines,

eskers and outwash plains, which one

of the following Union Territories you

may have to visit?

(a) Andaman and Nicobar Islands

(b) Lakshadweep

(c) Puducherry

(d) Ladakh

91. Legendary Kathak dancer Pandit

Birju Maharaj died recently. He was the

doyen of which one of the following

Gharanas of Kathak?

(a) Jaipur (b) Raigarh

(c) Lucknow (d) Banaras

92. In a first, India is to export

BrahMos missile to

(a) Bhutan (b) Philippines

(c) Maldives (d) Nepal

93. Who among the following is the

Head of the Committee appointed by

the Supreme Court of India to enquire

into the circumstances that led to the

Prime Minister of India's convoy being

stuck for several minutes on a flyover

in Punjab recently?

(a) Justice Indu Malhotra

(b) Justice Ashok Bhushan

(c) Justice Navin Sinha

(d) Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

34 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

94. Who among the following retired

from Test cricket by bagging a wicket

on the last ball of his career?

(a) AB de Villiers

(b) Michael Hussey

(c) Quinton de Kock

(d) Ross Taylor

95. Who among the following is

appointed as the tenth Chairman of the

Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) recently?

(a) A. S. Kiran Kumar

(b) K. Sivan

(c) K. Radhakrishnan

(d) S. Somanath

96. According to the Forest Survey

Report, 2021, area-wise which one of

the following States has the largest forest

cover in India?

(a) Odisha

(b) Madhya Pradesh

(c) Arunachal Pradesh

(d) Chhattisgarh

97. Who among the following is the

Chairperson of the Goods and Services

Tax Council?

(a) The Prime Minister of India

(b) The Union Finance Minister

(c) The Speaker of the Lok Sabha

(d) The President of India

98. The International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has

recently categorised the Red Sanders

(Red Sandalwood) into

(a) deficient category

(b) endangered category

(c) near-threatened category

(d) critically endangered category

99. The Government of India has

decided to observe 'Veer Baal Diwas'

on

(a) 6th October

(b) 26th November

(c) 26th December

(d) 6th December

100. On 14th January, 2022, which

one of the following Ministries has

organised a global Surya Namaskar

Demonstration programme?

(a) The Ministry of Culture

(b) The Ministry of AYUSH

(c) The Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare

(d) The Ministry of Tourism

ANSWERS

1. (d) 2. (b) 3. (a) 4. (c)

5. (a) 6. (d) 7. (d) 8. (b)

9. (d) 10. (a) 11. (c) 12. (c)

13. (a) 14. (b) 15. (d) 16. (b)

17. (a) 18. (b) 19. (c) 20. (c)

21. (c) 22. (b) 23. (d) 24. (a)

25. (a) 26. (a) 27. (d) 28. (c)

29. (d) 30. (b) 31. (b) 32. (b)

33. (d) 34. (d) 35. (a) 36. (b)

37. (d) 38. (d) 39. (a) 40. (a)

41. (b) 42. (d) 43. (a) 44. (a)

45. (c) 46. (c) 47. (a) 48. (c)

49. (d) 50. (a) 51. (c) 52. (b)

53. (d) 54. (b) 55. (b) 56. (c)

57. (c) 58. (a) 59. (c) 60. (d)

61. (d) 62. (a) 63. (d) 64. (b)

65. (c) 66. (a) 67. (d) 68. (d)

69. (c) 70. (b) 71. (a) 72. (a)

73. (b) 74. (a) 75. (b) 76. (c)

77. (d) 78. (a) 79. (d) 80. (c)

81. (b) 82. (a) 83. (a) 84. (a)

85. (c) 86. (b) 87. (d) 88. (c)

89. (a) 90. (d) 91. (c) 92. (b)

93. (a) 94. (d) 95. (d) 96. (b)

97. (b) 98. (b) 99. (c) 100. (b)

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 35

(5.00 – 6.30)

GENERAL ENGLISH

1. Select the most appropriate option

to fill in the blank.

He said the cooperative will continue

to invest______per its usual yearly rate.

1. that 2. so

3. such 4. as

2. Select the option that will

improve the underlined part of the given

sentence. In case no improvement is

needed, select 'No improvement

required'.

In his memoir, Attenborough said

that, “Lisa would have been 11 if she

was with us today.”

1. Attenborough said that, \"Lisa will

have been 11 if she were

2. Attenborough said, \"Lisa would

have been 11 if she were

3. Attenborough said, \"Lisa would

have been 11 if she was

4. No improvement required

3. The following sentence has been

divided into parts. One of them may

contain an error. Select the part that

contains the error from the given

options. If you don't find any error,

mark 'No error' as your answer.

Young scientists have fresh ideas; they

are ambitious and highly productive.

1. and highly productive

2. Young scientists have fresh ideas

3. No error

4. they are ambitious

4. Select the option that corrects the

misspelt words in the given sentence.

The anti-terorist squod is investgating

this case.

1. The anti-terrorist squod is

investigatng this case.

2. The anti-terrorrist squad is

invstigating this case.

3. The anti-terroist squad is

investegating this case.

4. The anti-terrorist squad is

investigating this case.

5. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in the blank.

If I __________ a doctor, I would

have treated you all.

1. were

2. would

3. am

4. could

6. Select the most appropriate

ANTONYM of the underlined word.

He carries that sorrow with him now,

just under the surface, almost tangible.

1. Detectable

2. Abstract

3. Actual

4. Distinct

36 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

7. Select the option that will

improve the underlined part of the given

sentence. In case no improvement is

needed, select 'No improvement

required'.

These days, judging someone is easier

then respecting them.

1. is easier than

2. is easiest than

3. is more easier then

4. No improvement required

8. Select the correctly spelt word.

1. Assembly 2. Asembly

3. Asemmbly 4. Assemmbly

9. Select the most appropriate

meaning of the given idiom.

To lead one by the nose

1. To try again after failing at

something

2. To control someone completely

3. To have the freedom to choose

4. To be anxious to start something

10. Select the most appropriate

ANTONYM of the given word.

Decay

1. Disintegrate

2. Growth

3. Spoilage

4. Breakdown

11. Select the option that will

improve the underlined part of the given

sentence. In case no improvement is

needed, select 'No improvement

required'.

Why should we give up everything?

1. gives up

2. given off

3. gave at

4. No improvement required

12. Select the most appropriate

ANTONYM of the underlined word in

the given sentence.

He learned to endure hunger and

cold.

1. Reconcile 2. Persist

3. Resist 4. Sustain

13. Select the option that will

improve the underlined part of the given

sentence. In case no improvement is

needed, select 'No improvement

required'.

My company beliefs that no one

should turn up late for work.

1. believing

2. believes

3. No improvement required

4. belief

14. Select the option that will

improve the underlined part of the given

sentence. In case no improvement is

needed, select 'No improvement

required'.

I am sorry of which my mother said.

1. for what

2. for which

3. off that

4. No improvement required

15. Select the most appropriate

meaning of the given idiom.

Play with fire

1. To play a game honestly

2. To do something risky

3. To please someone

4. To waste time on worthless

things

16. Select the most appropriate

synonym of the given word.

Obstruct

1. Replace

2. Curb

3. Release

4. Unclog

17. The following sentence has been

divided into parts. One of them may

contain an error. Select the part that

contains the error from the given

options. If you don't find any error,

mark 'No error' as your answer.

38 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

Safety measures makes risky activities

less risky.

1. risky activities

2. No error

3. Safety measures makes

4. less risky

18. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in the blank.

The ocean waves swelled and reached

_________ her head, and she started

screaming.

1. among

2. upon

3. above

4. at

19. The following sentence has been

split into four segments. Identify the

segment that contains a grammatical

error.

Human being are / the producers and

the / consumers of Earth's / resources.

1. Human being are

2. resources

3. the producers and the

4. consumers of Earth's

20. Select the most appropriate

synonym of the underlined word.

I don't know why she wears these

eccentric outfits.

1. Expensive

2. Elegant

3. Bizarre

4. Lavish

COMPREHENSION

In the following passage, some

words have been deleted. Read the

passage carefully and select the most

appropriate option to fill in each

blank.

Strong mental health is not just the

___(1)___of mental health problems.

_____(2)_____mentally or emotionally

healthy is___(3)___more than being

free of depression, anxiety or other

psychological issues.___(4)___than the

absence of mental illness, mental health

___(5)___ to the presence of positive

characteristics and positive outlook

towards life.

21. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in blank number 1.

1. adequacy

2. absence

3. attendance

4. leave

22. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in blank number 2.

1. Being

2. Been

3. As

4. Be

23. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in blank number 3.

1. many

2. very

3. much

4. most

24. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in blank number 4.

1. Sooner

2. Neither

3. Rather

4. Whether

25. Select the most appropriate

option to fill in blank number 5.

1. names

2. means

3. resembles

4. refers

ANSWERS

1. (4) 2. (2) 3. (3) 4. (4)

5. (1) 6. (2) 7. (1) 8. (1)

9. (2) 10. (2) 11. (4) 12. (3)

13. (2) 14. (1) 15. (2) 16. (2)

17. (3) 18. (3) 19. (1) 20. (3)

21. (2) 22. (1) 23. (3) 24. (3)

25. (4)

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 39

TEST I : REASONING

1. Ravi cycles 3 km towards the east

and takes the first right turn and cycles

for another 5 km to point A. From point

A he takes a left turn and cycles 7 km

to point B, after covering another 4 km

he rests for a while. How much distance

has Ravi covered from point A till the

time he stops ?

(1) 16 km (2) 11 km

(3) 19 km (4) 15 km

(5) 8 km

2. The position of how many

digits will remain the same if the

digits in the number 2567394 are

rearranged in ascending order from left

to right ?

(1) None (2) One

(3) Two (4) Three

(5) More than three

3. How many meaningful English

words can be made from the letters IRA,

using each letter only once in each

word ?

(1) None (2) One (3) Two

(4) Three (5) Four

4. How many such pairs of letters

are there in the word INTRUDE each

of which has as many letters between

them in the word (in both forward and

backward directions) as they have

between them in the English alphabetical

order ?

(1) None (2) One (3) Two

(4) Three (5) Four

5. If A means ‘+’, B means ‘×’, C

means ‘–’ and D means ‘÷’, then

12 B 8 C 6 D 2 A 4 = ?

(1) 21 (2) 94 (3) 84

(4) 97 (5) 90

6. If each of the vowels in the word

HONESTLY is changed to the next letter

in the English alphabetical series and

each consonant is changed to the previous

letter in the English alphabetical series,

and then the alphabets so formed are

arranged in alphabetical order from left

to right, the positions of how many of

the following alphabets will remain

unchanged? (from that of before

arranging in alphabetical order)

(1) None (2) One

(3) Two (4) Three

(5) More than three

7. ‘AB’ is related to ‘EF’ in the same

way as ‘IJ’ is related to

(1) MN (2) KL (3) OP

(4) LM (5) NO

8. A, B, C and D live in a building

having 14 floors. A lives two floors

above B. C lives on the 14th floor

immediately above A. D neither lives

immediately above nor immediately

below B. The first 7 floors of the

building are vacant. On which of the

following floor does D live ?

(1) 8th (2) 10th

(3) 12th (4) 9th

(5) Cannot be determined

Commerce Clerk (January 2011)

40 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

9. If it is possible to make only one

meaningful word with the second, third,

eighth and ninth letters of the word

ABDUCTION, which of the following

would be the second letter of that word

from the left end ? If no such word can

be made, give ‘A’ as your answer and if

more than one such word can be

formed, give your answer as ‘Z’.

(1) A (2) O

(3) N (4) B

(5) Z

10. In a certain code ‘AEROBIC’ is

written as ‘BFQNAJD’. How is

ADVERTS written in that code ?

(1) BEQUDUT (2) BUEDQUT

(3) BEUDQUT (4) BEUQDUT

(5) BUEQDUT

Directions (Qs. 11-15) : Study the

following information carefully and

answer the given questions.

Eight friends A, B, C, D, E, F, G and

H are sitting around a circular table facing

the centre and are equidistant from each

other. D sits exactly between E and H.

A is third to the left of G, and G sits

opposite F. E is third to the left of C.

11. How many people sit between E

and B when counted in an anti-clockwise

direction from B ?

(1) One (2) Two

(3) Three (4) Four

(5) Five

12. Who sits second to the left of C ?

(1) F (2) E

(3) D (4) H

(5) G

13. In which of the following pairs,

is the first person sitting to the

immediate left of the second person ?

(1) BC (2) CA

(3) GB (4) HD

(5) AF

14. If B : D then C : ?

(1) E (2) F

(3) G (4) D

(5) H

15. What is the position of F with

respect to B in the above arrangement ?

(1) Fourth to the left

(2) Second to the right

(3) Third to the left

(4) Fourth to the right

(5) Immediate to the right

Directions (Qs. 16-20) : The

following questions are based on

the five three digit numbers given

below :

356 497 812 739 264

16. If all the numbers are arranged

in ascending order from left to

right, which of the following will be

the sum of all the three digits of

the number which is second from the

left of the new arrangement thus

formed ?

(1) 14 (2) 19

(3) 20 (4) 11

(5) 12

17. What will be the resultant if the

third digit of the second lowest number

is divided by the third digit of the

highest number ?

(1) 2 (2) 3

(3) 4 (4) 5

(5) 2.6

18. If ‘2’ is subtracted from the last

digit of every odd number and ‘1’ is

added to the last digit of every even

number, what will be the difference

between the highest and the lowest

numbers thus formed ?

(1) 380 (2) 456

(3) 318 (4) 548

(5) 242

19. If all the digits in each of the

numbers are arranged in descending

order within the number, which of the

following will form the second highest

number in the new arrangement of

numbers ?

(1) 356 (2) 497

(3) 812 (4) 739

(5) 264

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 41

20. If the positions of the first and

the second digits of each of the numbers

are interchanged, in how many numbers

thus formed will the first digit be a perfect

square ? (‘1’ is also a perfect square)

(1) One (2) Two

(3) Three (4) Four

(5) Five

Directions (Qs. 21-25) : In each of

the questions below are given three

statements followed by two

conclusions numbered I and II. You

have to take the given statements to

be true even if they seem to be at

variance from commonly known facts

and then decide which of the given

conclusions logically follows from the

statements disregarding commonly

known facts.

Give answer—

(1) if only conclusion I follows.

(2) if only conclusion II follows.

(3) if either conclusion I or

conclusion II follows.

(4) if neither conclusion I nor

conclusion II follows.

(5) if both conclusions I and II

follow.

21. Statements :

Some drawings are paintings.

All drawings are sketches.

Some sketches are interesting.

Conclusions :

I. All paintings are sketches.

II. Some interesting are

drawings.

22. Statements :

All pebbles are stone.

No stone is a diamond.

Some precious are diamonds.

Conclusions :

I. Some pebbles are diamonds.

II. Some stones are precious.

23. Statements :

All journeys are distances.

Some distances are not journeys.

Some journeys are vacations.

Conclusions :

I. Some distances are vacations.

II. Some vacations are not journeys.

24. Statements :

All computers are machines.

All machines are expensive.

All expensive are scanners.

Conclusions :

I. At least some scanners are

machines.

II. Some computers are not

expensive.

25. Statements :

All colleges are institutions.

Some institutions are buildings.

Some buildings are colleges.

Conclusions :

I. Some institutions are both

colleges and buildings.

II. No college is a building.

Directions (Qs. 26-30) : In each

question below is given a number/

symbol followed by five combinations

of letter codes numbered (1), (2), (3),

(4) and (5). You have to find out

which of the combinations correctly

represents the number/symbol based

on the following coding system and

the conditions and select the number

of that combination as your answer.

Number/Symbol :

5 4 # 3 8 @ 7 2  1 $ 6  9 

Letter Code :

P V R T S C K M B G E N X D A

Conditions :

(i) If the first element is an even digit

and the last a symbol, the even

digit is to be coded as the code

for the last symbol.

(ii) If the group of elements contains

only one symbol, that symbol is

to be coded as the code for the

element following it.

(iii)If both the second and the fifth

elements are numbers, the fifth

number is to be coded as the code

for the second number.

42 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

26. #952@

(1) TDVXDK (2) TDXVDK

(3) TDVXBK (4) TBVXBK

(5) TXDVDK

27. 76#3@

(1) PNTSKP (2) MNKTSP

(3) MNSTKP (4) PNTSKM

(5) MNTSKP

28. 5#9487

(1) VDDMCR (2) VRDDCM

(3) VDDCRM (4) VDRDCM

(5) VDDRCM

29. 4#513

(1) RTSGVR (2) ATVGSA

(3) RTVGSR (4) ATGVSA

(5) ATVSGA

30. 365$

(1) XVSNAE (2) XSANSE

(3) XSNAVE (4) XNSASE

(5) XSNASE

Directions (Qs. 31-35) : In the

following questions, the symbols H,

@, # & and % are used with the

following meaning as illustrated

below :

‘A @ B’ means ‘A is greater than B’.

‘A % B’ means ‘A is equal to B’.

‘A # B’ means ‘A is either equal to

or smaller than B’.

‘A & B’ means ‘A is either equal to

or greater than B’.

‘A H B’ means ‘A is smaller than

B’.

Now in each of the following

questions assuming the given statements

to be true, find which of the two

conclusions I and II given below them

is/are definitely true ?

Give answer—

(1) if only Conclusion I is true.

(2) if only Conclusion II is true.

(3) If either Conclusion I or II is

true.

(4) if neither Conclusion I nor II

is true.

(5) if both Conclusions I and II

are true.

31. Statements :

S % A, A & D, D H J

Conclusions :

I. D # S II. A H J

32. Statements :

Q @ F, F % C, N H C

Conclusions :

I. Q @ C II. F H N

33. Statements :

R & P, P H K, K H F

Conclusions :

I. R @ F II. P H F

34. Statements :

M & F, F H C, C % K

Conclusions :

I. M @ C II. F H K

35. Statements :

P & T, T H R, R # B

Conclusions :

I. P @ T II. B & T

Directions (Qs. 36-40) : Study the

following arrangement carefully and

answer the questions given below:

@ S T 3 4 G # K ¥ % 9 B A 6 &

2 U X 8 W Q 1  $ H L 5 V 7

36. Which of the following elements

is ninth to the right of the fifteenth

from the left end of the above

arrangement ?

(1) 2 (2) H

(3) G (4) $

(5) 

37. If all the numbers and vowels are

dropped from the above arrangement,

which of the following will be the

twelfth from the left end of the

arrangement ?

(1)  (2) W

(3) Q (4) S

(5) X

38. How many such consonants are

there in the above arrangement, each

of which is immediately followed by an

odd number ?

(1) None (2) One

(3) Two (4) Three

(5) Four

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 43

39. How many such numbers are

there in the above arrangement, each

of which is immediately preceded by a

symbol and immediately followed by a

letter ?

(1) None (2) One

(3) Two (4) Three

(5) More than three

40. Four of the following five are

alike in a certain way based on their

positions in the above arrangement and

so form a group. Which is the one that

does not belong to that group ?

(1) 4K# (2) 1H$

(3) UW8 (4) 9AB

(5) HV5

Directions (Qs. 41 to 50) : In each

of the questions given below which

one of the five answer figures should

come after the problem figures, if

the sequence were continued ?

41. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

42. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

43. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

44. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

45. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

46. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

47. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

44 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

48. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

49. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

50. Problem Figures

Answer Figures

1 2 3 4 5

ANSWERS

1. (2)

Required distance

= 7 + 4

= 11 km

2. (2) : Given number

2 5 6 7 3 9 4

Ascending order

2 3 4 5 6 7 9

Only position of digit 2

remains unchanged.

3. (2) : AIR

4. (3) : I(NTRU)D, DE

5. (4) : 12 B 8 C 6 D 2 A 4 = ?

Putting proper symbols :

? = 12 × 8 – 6 ÷ 2 + 4

= 96 – 3 + 4

= 97

6. (2) : Given

H O N E S T L Y

       

Changing as required

G P M F R S K X

Alphabetical order

F G K M P R S X

7. (1)

8. (5) : D lives either on 8th or 9th

floor.

9. (2) : BDON

BOND

10. (3) :

 A  E   R  O B I C

+1+1 –1 –1 –1+1 +1

B F Q N B J D

Similarly,

A D V E R T  S

      

B E U D Q U T

Qs. 11–15 :

The seating arrangement is as

follows :

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 45

11. (3) 12. (1) 13. (4) 14. (5)

15. (3)

16. (1) : Arranging the numbers as

required

264, 356, 497, 739, 812

Required number  356

Sum of the digits

3 + 5 + 6  14

17. (2) : Required number 3

2

6

 

18. (4) : Operating as required :

356  357, 497  495,

812  813, 739  737,

264  265

Required difference

813 – 265 = 548

19. (4) : 356  653, 497  974,

812  821, 739  973,

264  642

Second highest number

973  739

20. (2) : 356  536, 497  947,

812  182, 739  379,

264  624

Required numbers are :

947, 182

21. (4) 22. (4) 23. (1) 24. (1)

25. (1)

26. (1) : Condition (iii) is applicable.

27. (5) : No condition is applicable.

28. (5) : Condition (ii) is applicable.

29. (2) : Condition (i) is applicable.

30. (5) : Condition (iii) is applicable.

31. (1) : S = A    D < J

I. D S True

II. A < J Not true

32. (1) : Q > F = C > N

I. Q > C True

II. F < N Not true

33. (2) : R  P < K < F

I. R > F Not true

II. P < F True

34. (2) : M  F < C = K

I. M > C Not true

II. F < K True

35. (4) : P  T < K B

I. P > T Not true

III. B  T Not true

36. (4) 37. (2)

38. (5) : T3, Q1, L5, V7

39. (2) 40. (4) 41. (2) 42. (3)

43. (5) 44. (4) 45. (4) 46. (2)

47. (5) 48. (5) 49. (3) 50. (1)

TEST II : QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

Directions (Qs. 51 to 75) : What

should come in place of the question

mark (?) in these questions ?

51. 1521  ÷ 3 × 12 = ?

(1) 158 (2) 165

(3) 167 (4) 156

(5) None of these

52. 672 ÷ 24 × 18 + 153 – 345 ?

(1) 318 (2) 324

(3) 314 (4) 308

(5) None of these

53. 4

3

of 26% of 850 = ?

(1) 165.75 (2) 160.35

(3) 163.75 (4) 167.75

(5) None of these

54. 144 ÷ 8 ÷ ? = 9

(1) 3 (2) 2 (3) 4

(4) 6 (5) None of these

55. ?% of 590 – 11.8 = 236

(1) 48 (2) 45

(3) 42 (4) 41

(5) None of these

56. (8)2

% of ? = 723 + 45

(1) 1200 (2) 1400

(3) 1100 (4) 1020

(5) None of these

57. 5554 – 333 + 45 = ? + 2525

(1) 2174

(2) 2417

(3) 2714

(4) 2741

(5) None of these

46 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

58. ?

6

1

6

2

1

2

4

1

3



(1)

12

11

13 (2)

12

11

11

(3)

12

11

12 (4)

12

11

15

(5) None of these

59. (450 ÷ 30)2

– (12)2

= (?)2

(1) 92

(2) – 92

(3) 9 (4) 81

(5) None of these

60. 56.73 + 32.88 + 45.23 = ?

(1) 130.84 (2) 134.84

(3) 140.84 (4) 144.84

(5) None of these

61. 5

2

× 253

× 625 = (5)?

(1) 11 (2) 10

(3) 13 (4) 12

(5) None of these

62. 5

2

× 255 ÷ 5 – 1116 = ?

(1) 149 (2) 147

(3) 159 (4) 157

(5) None of these

63. ( 5 – 1)2

= ? – 2 5

(1) 6 (2) 6 + 2 5

(3) 6 5 (4) 6 – 2 5

(5) None of these

64. 2500

2

1

7

5

12

7

?    

(1) 14000

(2) 13000

(3) 12000

(4) 11000

(5) None of these

65. 556 – 441 + 223 – 112 = ?

(1) 262 (2) 222

(3) 226 (4) 266

(5) None of these

66. 168 ÷ 14 ÷ 3 = ?

(1) 5 (2) 4

(3) 2 (4) 6

(5) None of these

67. 9999 – 3434 – 2525 + 1313

= ?

(1) 3535 (2) 5353

(3) 5335 (4) 3553

(5) None of these

68. ?

12

11

7

4

1

3

1

4

3

2

3    

(1)

21

4

27 (2)

21

5

26

(3)

21

5

27 (4)

21

4

26

(5) None of these

69. 5 7 12 ?

2 2 2



(1) 37 (2) 35

(3) 36 (4) 34

(5) None of these

70. 35% of 180 – 49 = ?

(1) 62 (2) 55

(3) 58 (4) 67

(5) None of these

71. 19.673 – 12.235 + 15.224 +

10.111 = ?

(1) 32.773

(2) 37.223

(3) 33.772

(4) 34.773

(5) None of these

72. (343 – 103) ÷ (216 ÷ 36) = ?

(1) 30 (2) 40

(3) 32 (4) 42

(5) None of these

73. (0.027)2

× (0.09)2

÷ (0.3)6

= (0.3)?

(1) 3 (2) 2

(3) 5 (4) 6

(5) None of these

74. 961

784

49  ?

(1) 65 (2) 67

(3) 63 (4) 66

(5) None of these

75. 35% of 740 – 35% of 520 = ?

(1) 78 (2) 71

(3) 75 (4) 77

(5) None of these

48 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

76. What is the value of three fourth

of sixty percent of 480 ?

(1) 216 (2) 218

(3) 212 (4) 214

(5) None of these

77. The height of 5 boys is recorded

as 146 cms, 154 cms, 164 cms, 148 cms

and 158 cms. What is the average height

of all these boys ?

(1) 152 cms (2) 158 cms

(3) 156 cms (4) 154 cms

(5) None of these

78. Pravin purchased 25 kgs of rice

at the rate of Rs. 45 per kg and 12 kgs

of pulses at the rate of Rs. 28 per kg.

What is the total amount that he paid

to the shopkeeper ?

(1) Rs. 1,466 (2) Rs. 1,416

(3) Rs. 1,461 (4) Rs. 1,471

(5) None of these

79. If one man or three women or

five boys can do a piece of work in

46 days, then how many days will one

man, one woman and one boy together

take to complete the same piece of

work ?

(1) 30 days (2) 32 days

(3) 35 days (4) 40 days

(5) None of these

80. The perimeter of a rectangle is

60 cms and its breadth is 12 cms. What

is the area of the rectangle ?

(1) 261 cms2

(2) 263 cms2

(3) 213 cms2

(4) 216 cms2

(5) None of these

81. The speed of a truck is rd

3

1

 the

speed of a train. The train covers 1230

kms in 5 hours. What is the speed of

the truck ?

(1) 85 kms./hr. (2) 82 kms./hr.

(3) 81 kms./hr. (4) 87 kms./hr.

(5) None of these

82. What approximate value should

come in place of the question mark (?)

in the following question ? (You are not

expected to calculate the exact value).

343  ?

(1) 18 (2) 38 (3) 58

(4) 78 (5) 98

83. Bina’s monthly income is 90% of

Anita’s monthly income. The total of

both their monthly incomes is Mr. Sen’s

monthly income. Mr. Sen’s annual

income is Rs. 7,75,200. What is Bina’s

monthly income ? (In some cases annual

income is asked and in some cases monthly

income is asked.)

(1) Rs. 34,000 (2) Rs. 36,000

(3) Rs. 30,600 (4) Rs. 30,000

(5) None of these

84. A train crossed a platform in 43

seconds. The length of the train is 170

metres. What is the speed of the train ?

(1) 233 kms./hr.

(2) 243 kms./hr.

(3) 265 kms./hr.

(4) Cannot be determined

(5) None of these

85. If a number is multiplied by threefourth of itself, the value thus obtained

is 10800. What is that number ?

(1) 210 (2) 180 (3) 120

(4) 160 (5) 140

86. If the three fourth of a number

is subtracted from the number; the value

so obtained is 163. What is that number ?

(1) 625 (2) 562 (3) 632

(4) 652 (5) None of these

87. What will be the compound

interest accrued on a sum of Rs. 35000

at the rate of 8 p.c.p.a in 2 years ?

(1) Rs. 5,884 (2) Rs. 5,284

(3) Rs. 5,524 (4) Rs. 5,428

(5) None of these

88. It is required to get 40% marks to

pass an exam. A candidate scored 200

marks and failed by 8 marks. What were

the maximum marks of that exam ?

(1) 530 (2) 540

(3) 502

(4) Cannot be determined

(5) None of these

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 49

89. The sum of five consecutive

numbers is 190. What is the sum of the

largest and the smallest number ?

(1) 75 (2) 77

(3) 76 (4) 73

(5) None of these

90. The area of a square is twice the

area of a circle. The area of the circle

is 392 cm2. What is the length of the

side of the square ?

(1) 28 cms (2) 26 cms

(3) 24 cms (4) 22 cms

(5) None of these

91. Sushil runs four kilometres every

day. On Saturday and Sunday he runs

one kilometre extra (on each day). How

many kilometres does he run in 2 weeks ?

(1) 40 kms (2) 60 kms

(3) 50 kms (4) 70 kms

(5) None of these

92. The angles in a triangle are in a

ratio of 19 : 10 : 7. What is the sum of

twice the smallest angle and the largest

angle ?

(1) 165° (2) 185° (3) 155°

(4) 175° (5) None of these

93. In how many different ways can

the letters of the word ‘TABLE’ be

arranged ?

(1) 360 (2) 720

(3) 60 (4) 180

(5) None of these

Directions (Qs. 94 to 96) : What

will come in place of the question

mark (?) in the following series ?

94. 3 4 13 38 87 ?

(1) 178 (2) 188 (3) 158

(4) 186 (5) None of these

95. 150 148 144 136 120 ?

(1) 89 (2) 86 (3) 88

(4) 83 (5) None of these

96. 11 16 26 41 61 ?

(1) 68 (2) 72 (3) 78

(4) 86 (5) None of these

97. Yesterday, a man covered a

distance of 360 kms in 8 hours by a

car. Today he travelled at a speed 3 times

less than yesterday's speed for 10 hours.

How much distance did he cover ?

(1) 150 kms (2) 160 kms

(3) 140 kms (4) 130 kms

(5) None of these

98. One of the angles of a

parallelogram is 35°. What will be the

sum of the largest angle and twice the

smallest angle of the parallelogram ?

(1) 219° (2) 205°

(3) 215°

(4) Cannot be determined

(5) None of these

99. Out of the following fractions

which one is the second lowest ?

11

8

16

5

18

7

11

6

5

3

(1)

11

6

(2) 18

7

(3) 5

3

(4)

11

8

(5) None of these

100. Satish bought an article and sold

it for Rs. 4,550 which is 30% more than

the original price. What is the original

price of that article ?

(1) Rs. 3,500 (2) Rs. 3,800

(3) Rs. 3,600 (4) Rs. 3,400

(5) None of these

ANSWERS

51. (4) 52. (5) 53. (1) 54. (2)

55. (3) 56. (1) 57. (4) 58. (2)

59. (5) 60. (2) 61. (4) 62. (3)

63. (1) 64. (3) 65. (3) 66. (2)

67. (2) 68. (3) 69. (1) 70. (5)

71. (1) 72. (2) 73. (5) 74. (4)

75. (4) 76. (1) 77. (4) 78. (3)

79. (1) 80. (4) 81. (2) 82. (1)

83. (3) 84. (4) 85. (3) 86. (4)

87. (5) 88. (5) 89. (3) 90. (1)

91. (2) 92. (1) 93. (5) 94. (5)

95. (3) 96. (4) 97. (1) 98. (3)

99. (2) 100. (1)

50 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

Directions (Qs. 101 to 115) : Read

the following passage carefully and

answer the questions given below it.

Certain words are printed in bold to

help you to locate them while

answering some of the questions.

A fisherman, enfeebled with age, could

no longer go out to sea so he began

fishing in the river. Every morning he

would go down to the river and sit there

fishing the whole day long. In the evening

he would sell whatever he had caught,

buy food for himself and go home. It

was a hard life for an old man. One hot

afternoon while he was trying to keep

awake and bemoaning his fate, a large

bird with silvery feathers alighted on a

rock near him. It was Kaha, the heavenly

bird. “Have you no one to care for you,

grandpa ?” asked the bird. “Not a soul.”

“You should not be doing such work at

your age,” said the bird. “From now on

I will bring you a big fish every evening.

You can sell it and live in comfort.” True

to her word, the bird began to drop a

large fish at his doorstep every evening.

All that the fisherman had to do was

take it to the market and sell it. As big

fish were in great demand, he was soon

rolling in money. He bought a cottage

near the sea, with a garden around it

and engaged a servant to cook for him.

His wife had died some years earlier. He

had decided to marry again and began

to look for a suitable woman.

One day he heard the royal courtier

make an announcement. “Our king has

news of a great bird called Kaha”, said

the courtier. “Whoever can give

information about this bird and help

catch it, will be rewarded with half the

gold in the royal treasury and half the

kingdom !” The fisherman was sorely

tempted by the reward. Half the

kingdom would make him a prince !

“Why does the king want the bird ?”

he asked. “He has lost his sight,”

TEST III : ENGLISH

explained the courtier. “A wise man

has advised him to bathe his eyes

with the blood of Kaha. Do you know

where she can be found ?” “No...

I mean... no, no....” Torn between greed

and his sense of gratitude to the bird,

the fisherman could not give a coherent

reply. The courtier, sensing that he

knew something about the bird,

informed the king. The king had him

brought to the palace.

“If you have information about the

bird, tell me,” urged the king. “I will

reward you handsomely and if you help

catch her, I will personally crown you

king of half my domain.” “I will get the

bird for you”, cried the fisherman,

suddenly making up his mind. “But Kaha

is strong. I will need help.” The king

sent a dozen soldiers with him. That

evening when the bird came with the

fish, the fisherman called out to her to

wait. “You drop the fish and go and I

never get a chance to thank you for all

that you’ve done for me,” he said. “Today

I have laid out a feast for you inside.

Please alight and come in.” Kaha was

reluctant to accept the invitation but the

fisherman pleaded so earnestly that she

finally gave in, and alighted. The moment

she was on the ground, the fisherman

grabbed one of her legs and shouted

to the soldiers hiding in his house to

come out. They rushed to his aid but

their combined effort could not keep

Kaha down.

She rose into the air with the fisherman

still clinging onto her leg. By the time he

realised he was being carried away, the

fisherman was too high in the air to let go.

He hung on grimly, and neither he nor

Kaha were ever seen again.

101. Why was the king desperately

looking for Kaha the bird ?

(1) The king wanted a pet bird.

(2) A wise man advised the king to

capture the bird for good luck.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 51

(3) Kaha was the only heavenly bird

with silvery feathers.

(4) The king was blind and required

Kaha’s blood for his eyes.

(5) Kaha was known to be the greatest

bird alive.

102. Why did the bird volunteer to

bring fish for the old man ?

(1) The old man was inexperienced

at fishing.

(2) The bird took pity on the old man

and wanted to help him.

(3) The bird had caught more fish

than required.

(4) The bird wanted to make the old

man rich.

(5) The bird had heard the old man

bemoaning his fate.

103. What led the courtier to sense

that the fisherman might know

something about Kaha ?

(1) The courtier had observed Kaha

alight at the fisherman's house

every evening.

(2) The courtier had seen the

fisherman talk to Kaha.

(3) The fisherman fumbled when

asked about Kaha.

(4) Word went around that the

fisherman was in contact with

Kaha.

(5) None of these

104. Which of the following cannot

be said about the royal courtier ?

(A) He was a very observant man.

(B) He was jealous of the old

fisherman.

(C) He had informed the king about

the fisherman.

(1) Only (A) (2) Only (B)

(3) Only (C) (4) Only (A) and (C)

(5) Only (B) and (C)

105. What could be an appropriate title

for the story ?

(1) A Fish a Day.

(2) The Lonely Fisherman.

(3) Kaha the Silvery-feathered Bird.

(4) The Blind King.

(5) The Ungrateful Old Fisherman.

106. Which of the following is not true

about Kaha ?

(1) Kaha was a very considerate bird.

(2) The blood of Kaha was precious.

(3) Kaha was a strong bird.

(4) Kaha flew away along with the old

fisherman.

(5) Kaha saved the fisherman from

the King’s wrath.

107. Why did the fisherman stammer

when asked if he knew about the bird ?

(1) The fisherman thought he was

going to be punished for living off

the bird.

(2) He was thrilled he would be able

to help the king.

(3) He already knew about the reward

that was being offered.

(4) He was conflicted between the

king's reward and his gratitude

towards the bird.

(5) The fisherman was faced with a

very unexpected question by a

royal courtier.

108. How did the fisherman get Kaha

to come down ?

(A) The fisherman told Kaha that the

King was impressed by her

kindness and wanted to meet her.

(B) The fisherman invited Kaha to live

in his house as he was a lonely

man and wanted company.

(C) The fisherman invited Kaha to his

house for a feast in order to thank

her for everything.

(1) Only (A)

(2) Only (B)

(3) Only (C)

(4) Only (B) and (C)

(5) Only (A) and (C)

109. What does the phrase ‘rolling in

money’ as highlighted in the passage

refer to ?

(1) To have a large amount of money.

(2) To have just enough of money.

(3) To live a life that is not affordable.

(4) To live off someone else.

(5) To be self-sufficient.

110. Why was the fisherman doubtful

about revealing information about Kaha

to the courtier ?

52 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

(1) He did not want to lose Kaha.

(2) Kaha was his source of income.

(3) He was worried about his supply

of fish.

(4) He had heard that Kaha was going

to be killed for her blood.

(5) Kaha had asked the fisherman not

to tell anyone about her where

about.

Directions (Qs. 111 to 113) : Choose

the word which is most nearly the

same in meaning as the word printed

in bold as used in the passage.

111. Aid

(1) Health (2) Help

(3) Support (4) Freedom

(5) Mercy

112. Sorely

(1) Happily (2) Painfully

(3) Gainfully (4) Greatly

(5) Primarily

113. Torn

(1) Conflicted (2) Alarmed

(3) Frightened (4) Strained

(5) Frayed

Directions (Qs. 114 & 115) : Choose

the word which is most opposite in

meaning of the words printed in bold

as used in the passage.

114. Alight

(1) Settle (2) Take off

(3) Come by (4) Rest

(5) Free

115. Grabbed

(1) Caught (2) Released

(3) Secured (4) Loosened

(5) Held

Directions (Qs. 116 to 125) : Read

each sentence to find out whether there

is any grammatical error in it. The

error, if any, will be in one part of the

sentence. The number of that part is

the answer. If there is no error, the

answer is (5) i.e. ‘No Error’. (Ignore

the errors of punctuation, if any).

116. Removing seeds from (1)/ cotton

plants was (2)/ a slowest job until (3)/

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. (4)/

No Error (5)

117. India is a land of (1)/ great

political leaders (2)/ who ruled the

country effectively (3)/ and also by

protecting its national interest. (4)/ No

Error (5)

118. The climbers will try again (1)/

to reach the summit of the mountain,

(2)/ their chances of doing so are (3)/

more better than they were last week.

(4)/ No Error (5)

119. Most birds sings (1)/ only in

daylight, (2)/ one notable exception (3)/

being the nightingale. (4)/ No Error (5)

120. In the eve of the election (1)/

there was heavy (2)/ political security

(3)/ in the state. (4)/ No Error (5)

121. The teacher thought (1)/ the

children would (2)/ be happy for (3)/

clearing away their toys. (4)/ No

Error (5)

122. Neither Alice or Mary remembers

(1)/ what happened before (2)/ the car

crashed (3)/ into the wall. (4)/ No

Error (5)

123. This is the woman (1)/ that

always wears (2)/ a black shawl (3)/ to

work. (4)/ No Error (5)

124. Many leading members (1)/ of the

opposition party (2)/ has tried to justify

(3)/ their decisions. (4)/ No Error (5)

125. The view of (1)/ the

manufacturing and (2)/ tourist industries

is that, (3)/ the economy is

improving. (4)/ No Error (5)

Directions (Qs. 126 to 130) : Which

of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and

(4) given below each sentence

should replace the phrase printed

in bold in the sentence to make it

grammatically correct. If the sentence

is correct as it is given and no correction

is required, mark (5) as the answer.

126. So successful her business to

be, that Marie was able to retire at the

age of 50.

(1) So successful her business was

(2) So successful being her business

(3) Her business was so successful

(4) So was her successful business

(5) No correction required

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 53

127. The ship was in mercy of the

waves.

(1) to be in mercy of

(2) at the mercy of

(3) having mercy on

(4) merciful to

(5) No correction required

128. He not to have resigned, we

would have been forced to dismiss him.

(1) Had he not (2) Had not he

(3) He had not (4) He not had

(5) No correction required

129. A wealthy coin collector was eager

to pay the huge sum for the coin because

it was one kind.

(1) of one kinds (2) one of kinds

(3) one of a kind

(4) one of those kinds

(5) No correction required

130. The thief carried the knife

carefully to not cut himself.

(1) so as not to (2) so not to

(3) not to

(4) not in order to

(5) No correction required

Directions (Qs. 131 to 135) : In each

question below, four words printed in

bold type are given. These are

numbered (1), (2), (3) and (4). One of

these words printed in bold may either

be wrongly spelt or inappropriate in

the context of the sentence. Find out

the word that is inappropriate or

wrongly spelt, if any. The number of

that word is your answer. If all the

words printed in bold are correctly spelt

and appropriate in the context of the

sentence, then mark (5) i.e. ‘All Correct’

as your answer.

131. The economist (1)/ was

hesistant (2)/ to comment (3)/ on the

government policy (4)/. All Correct (5)

132. The king knew (1)/ that he had

definately (2)/ been wrong about his

choice (3)/ of courtiers (4)/. All

Correct (5)

133. Statistics (1)/ are now

compulsory (2)/ for all students taking

a cource (3)/ in engineering (1)/. All

Correct (5)

134. The caretaker (1)/ is

responsible (2)/ for the maintainance

(3)/ of the school buildings (4)/. All

Correct (5)

135. The more scarce (1)/ any

collecteble (2)/ item is, the higher (3)/

the price (4)/ tends to be. All Correct (5)

Directions (Qs. 136 to 140) :

Rearrange the following six

sentences/group of sentences (A),

(B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) in the

proper sequence to form a

meaningful paragraph; then answer

the questions given below them.

(A) Seeing the dogs and his master

running after the fox; the rooster

screamed “No ! Don’t come near

me !”

(B) A fox sneaked into a farm and

grabbed a prize rooster. The farmer

saw him and raised an alarm.

(C) “My master was very cruel to

me,” explained the rooster to

the fox. “Tell him to stay away

from me.”

(D) The rooster flew up into a tree and

stayed there till he was rescued by

his master.

(E) The fox was delighted. In

the process of shouting to the

farmer he released his hold over the

rooster.

(F) Soon the farmer and his dogs started

chasing the fox. The fox, was

holding the rooster in his mouth,

and was running very fast.

136. Which of the following should

be the SIXTH (LAST) sentence after

the rearrangement ?

(1) E (2) B (3) C

(4) D (5) F

137.Which of the following should be

the FIFTH sentence after the

rearrangement ?

(1) C (2) D (3) F

(4) B (5) E

138.Which of the following should

be the FIRST sentence after the

rearrangement ?

54 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

(1) A (2) D (3) F

(4) C (5) B

139.Which of the following should be

the FOURTH sentence after the

rearrangement ?

(1) D (2) C (3) B

(4) A (5) F

140.Which of the following should be

the SECOND sentence after the

rearrangement ?

(1) B (2) C (3) F

(4) D (5) E

Directions (Qs. 141 to 150) : In the

following passage, there are blanks,

each of which has been numbered.

These numbers are printed below the

passage and against each, five words

are suggested, one of which fits the

blank appropriately. Find out the

appropriate word in each case.

Haria, a poor barber lived alone in his

small hut. He was ...(141)... to his work

and whatever he earned was enough to

fulfil his needs. One evening, after

returning from work, Haria was hungry.

Just as he was ...(142)... what he could

cook for dinner he heard a hen clucking

outside his hut. “That hen would make a

great feast for me,” thought Haria and

prepared to catch the hen. With a little

effort he ...(143)... in catching the hen

and as he was about to kill the hen, it

squeaked, “Please do not kill me, Oh kind

man ! I will help you.” Haria stopped.

...(144)... he was surprised that the hen

spoke, he asked, “How can you help me ?”

“If you ...(145)... my life, I will lay a golden

egg for you everyday,” said the hen.

Haria’s eyes ...(146)... in delight. Haria

was surprised to hear this promise. “A

golden egg ! That too everyday ! But why

should I believe you ? You might be lying,”

said Haria. “If I do not lay a golden egg

tomorrow, you can kill me,” said the hen.

After this promise, Haria spared the hen

and ...(147)... for the next day.

The next morning, Haria found a golden

egg ...(148)... outside his hut and the hen

sitting beside it. “It is true ! You really can

lay a golden egg !” exclaimed Haria with

great delight. He did not ...(149)... this

incident to any one, ...(150)... that others

would catch the hen.

141. (1) dedicated (2) devote

(3) enthusiastic (4) good

(5) engrossed

142. (1) feeling (2) sounding

(3) dreaming (4) plotting

(5) wondering

143. (1) quit (2) surrendered

(3) succeeded (4) won

(5) managed

144. (1) Finally (2) Though

(3) Since (4) As

(5) Because

145. (1) forgive (2) leave

(3) give (4) spare

(5) consume

146. (1) exclaimed (2) dazed

(3) open (4) awakened

(5) widened

147. (1) remembered (2) starved

(3) waited (4) rejoiced

(5) looked

148. (1) lying (2) forlorn

(3) presented (4) hiding

(5) secluded

149. (1) seek (2) say

(3) narrates (4) reveal

(5) hide

150. (1) fearing (2) selfish

(3) concerning (4) citing

(5) alarmed

ANSWERS

101. (4) 102. (2) 103. (3) 104. (2)

105. (5) 106. (5) 107. (4) 108. (3)

109. (1) 110. (4) 111. (2) 112. (2)

113. (1) 114. (2) 115. (2) 116. (3)

117. (4) 118. (4) 119. (1) 120. (1)

121. (3) 122. (1) 123. (4) 124. (3)

125. (3) 126. (3) 127. (2) 128. (1)

129. (3) 130. (3) 131. (2) 132. (2)

133. (3) 134. (3) 135. (2) 136. (4)

137. (5) 138. (5) 139. (2) 140. (3)

141. (1) 142. (5) 143. (3) 144. (3)

145. (4) 146. (2) 147. (3) 148. (1)

149. (4) 150. (1)

56 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

Led by Hon’ble President

Ms. Droupadi Murmu and Prime

Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, a

thankful India raised a toast to its

diaspora, the largest in the world,

at the high-profile 17th Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas (PBD) 2023

Convention held in the Madhya

Pradesh city of Indore from January

8 to 10, 2023. Both the leaders

among many other eminent

speakers heaped lavish praise on

overseas Indians and called them

country's brand ambassadors and

partners in national development at the

glittering convention on the theme

\"Diaspora: Reliable partners for India's

progress in Amrit Kaal.\" Guyana President

Mr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Suriname

President Mr. Chandrikapersad Santokhi

were the Chief Guest and Special Guest

of Honour, respectively, at the event,

organised in-person after a gap of four

years. At the event, President Ms. Murmu

also honoured 27 distinguished persons

with Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award

2023—the highest honour conferred on

overseas Indians. Over 3,500 diaspora

members from nearly 70 countries had

registered for the PBD Convention.

Speaking at the valedictory session of

the PBD 2023 Convention, President

Ms. Murmu lauded Indian diaspora

as an \"important and unique force\"

in global systems, which is making

stellar contributions to world affairs.

\"The Indian diaspora has grown into

an energetic and confident community

in every area, and is making stellar

contributions to world affairs in

PRAVASI BHARATIYA

DIVAS 2023

India Raises A Toast To Its Diaspora

leadership positions. They have exhibited

extraordinary dedication and hard work,

and have overcome many challenges to

achieve excellence in all walks of life—

including art, literature, politics, sports,

business, academics, philanthropy, science

and technology,\" Ms. Murmu said.

Earlier, inaugurating the convention,

PM Mr. Modi made a strong pitch

for roping in the diaspora as partners

for progress and development in the

next 25 years. Mr. Modi pointed to the

government's plans in this regard,

describing the people of Indian origin

abroad as brand ambassadors. \"Your role

as India's brand ambassadors is diverse.

You are brand ambassadors of 'Make in

India'. You are brand ambassadors of

Yoga and Ayurveda”, he said. \"Indian

diaspora will have a significant place in

India's plans for greater development in

the next 25 years,\" he added.

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards

Guyana's President Mr. Mohamed

Irfaan Ali (Politics and Community

Mr. Mohamed Irfaan

Ali

Mr. Chandrikapersad

Santokhi

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58 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

Welfare), US-based businessman

Mr. Darshan Singh Dhaliwal (Business

and Community Welfare), and DBS Bank

CEO Mr. Piyush Gupta of Singapore

(Business) were among 27 recipients

of the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

Awards (PBSA) 2023, which were

announced on January 2, 2023. The other

prominent awardees included Ms. Reena

Vinod Pushkarna of Israel in Business

and Community Welfare, Mr. Jagadish

Chennupati of Australia in the field of

Science and Technology and Education

and Mr. Sanjeev Mehta of Bhutan in

Education.

Global Worth Of Indian Diaspora

According to a Ministry of External

Affairs report, there are 32 million NonResident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas

Citizens of India (OCIs) residing outside

India making the world's largest overseas

diaspora.

Indian diaspora is unique not only in

terms of its globally biggest size but also

in terms of globally largest money it

remits to India. According to World

Bank's Migration and Development Brief

released on December 1, 2022, India has

become the first-ever country in the

world to receive $100 billion from

remittances—a historic milestone, way

ahead of Mexico and China—thereby

retaining its position as the top recipient

of remittances globally. Remittance

flows to India grew 12% to reach

$100 billion for the first time in 2022,

helping the country retain the top

position, the World Bank report

said. This was the first time when a

single country reached that number in a

year.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 61

India To Rope In Diaspora As

Partners Of Progress

India made a strong pitch for roping in

the diaspora as partners for progress and

development in the next 25 years as Prime

Minister Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated

17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)

convention in the Madhya Pradesh city of

Indore on January 9, 2023. Speaking on the

PBD convention on the theme \"Diaspora:

Reliable partners for India's progress in

Amrit Kaal,\" Mr. Modi pointed to the

government's plans in this regard, describing

the people of Indian origin abroad as brand

ambassadors for a range of official initiatives

such as \"Make in India\".

\"Your role as India's brand ambassadors

is diverse. You are brand ambassadors of

'Make in India'. You are brand ambassadors

of Yoga and Ayurveda. You are also brand

ambassadors of India's cottage industries

and handicrafts. At the same time, you are

also brand ambassadors of India's millets,\"

PM Mr. Modi said. Indian diaspora will have

a \"significant place\" in India's plans for

greater development in the next 25 years,

he added and announced that India will

nurture and protect its diaspora spread

across the world.

Guyana President Mr. Irfaan Ali and

Suriname President Mr. Chandrikapersad

INDIA

SPECIAL BOOKLET

CURRENT AFFAIRS

Santokhi were the chief guest and special

guest of honour, respectively, at the event,

organised in-person after a gap of four years

as the previous edition was held virtually

because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Union Government Signs

Peace Pact With Manipur

Insurgent Group

The Union Government and State

Government of Manipur signed a peace

agreement with the insurgent group

Zeliangrong United Front (ZUF) which is

mostly active in Manipur. The tripartite

agreement was signed in New Delhi on

December 27, 2022 by senior officials

in the Union Home Ministry and the

Government of Manipur and the

representatives of ZUF in presence of

Manipur Chief Minister Mr. N. Biren Singh.

“Fulfilling the vision of Prime Minister

Mr. Narendra Modi of an ‘insurgency-free

and prosperous northeast’ and under the

guidance of Union Minister of Home

Affairs and Minister of Cooperation

Mr. Amit Shah, the Government of India

and the Government of Manipur entered

into a Cessation of Operation agreement

with the Zeliangrong United Front that had

been active for more than a decade,” said

the Union Home Ministry in a statement.

& WHO’s WHO

62 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

“This will be a significant boost to the peace

process in Manipur,” it added.

Under the agreement, representatives

of the ZUF agreed to abjure violence

and join the peaceful democratic process

as established by law of the land. The

agreement provides for rehabilitation and

re-settlement of the armed cadres of ZUF.

A joint monitoring group will be constituted

to oversee enforcement of the agreed

ground rules. Most of the activities of ZUF,

an armed group, were reported from

Tamenglong district which is inhabited

mostly by Zeliangrong Naga tribes. The

ZUF is listed as one of the 13 active

insurgent groups in Manipur by the South

Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP).

Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Goa

Best Performers In Social

Progress Index

Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Goa have

emerged as best-performing among all States

and Union Territories in the Social Progress

Index (SPI), while Jharkhand and Bihar have

emerged as as worst performers, according

to a report mandated by the Economic

Advisory Council to the Prime Minister

(EAC-PM). The report titled ‘Social Progress

Index: States and Districts of India’ released

on December 20, 2022 further said that

Aizawl (Mizoram), Solan (Himachal Pradesh)

and Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) have

emerged as the Top 3 best-performing

districts. The report has been prepared by

the Institute for Competitiveness and the

Social Progress Imperative.

The SPI ranks 36 States/Union Territories

and 707 districts of India based on their

performance across various social progress

indicators in terms of access to education,

healthcare, water and sanitation, exercising

personal freedom and choice, ensuring

shelter, personal safety and quality

environment for people. The Index assesses

the performance of States and districts on

three dimensions of social progress—basic

human needs, foundations of wellbeing and

opportunity. The report pointed out that

only 27 out of 112 districts under the

Aspirational District Programme (ADP)

have scored above the national average on

the Social Progress Index. Among these

27 districts, only 5 have been ranked in

Top 100 districts.

According to the report, Puducherry has

the highest SPI score of 65.99 in the

country, attributable to its remarkable

performance across components like

personal freedom and choice, shelter and

water and sanitation. Lakshadweep and Goa

closely follow it with scores of 65.89 and

65.53, respectively, it added. As per the

report, Jharkhand and Bihar scored the

lowest, 43.95 and 44.47, respectively. India’s

aggregate Social Progress Index score of

60.19 in 2022 is slightly lower than the world

average of 65.24.

In terms of basic human needs,

Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and

Chandigarh are the Top 4 with the best

performance in water and sanitation and

shelter as compared to other States/UTs. In

terms of shelter and personal safety,

Chandigarh and Nagaland have emerged as

the front-runners, respectively. On the basis

of access to basic knowledge, Punjab has

the highest component score of 62.92, while

Delhi has topped the list for access to

information and communication with a

score of 71.30. In terms of health and

wellness, Rajasthan has the highest

component score of 73.74 while in case of

environmental quality, the top three states

are Mizoram, Nagaland, and Meghalaya—

all from north-east region. Tamil Nadu has

achieved the highest component score of

72 under the opportunity dimension. Within

this dimension, Andaman and Nicobar

Islands have the highest component score

for personal rights while Sikkim has topped

the list for inclusiveness.

Kerala Seed Farm Declared As

First Carbon-Neutral Farm In

The Country

A seed farm, located at Thuruth in

Aluva town of Ernakulam district of

Kerala, has been declared as the first

carbon-neutral farm in the country. Chief

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 63

Minister of Kerala Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan on

December 10, 2022 declared that the State

Seed Farm at Aluva has acquired the status

of the first carbon-neutral farm in the

country. A significant reduction in carbon

emissions has helped the seed farm, under

the Agriculture Department of the State,

achieve the carbon neutral status, he said

while addressing a function in Aluva.

The declaration was the culmination of

decade-long efforts which included totally

organic agricultural activities and scientific

interventions to maintain soil health in the

farm. Studies by the Kerala Agricultural

University done in August 2022 had

found that the carbon emissions from the

activities in the farm was 43 tonnes, while

carbon sequestration was 213 tonnes, thus

making it not only neutral but also carbon

negative.

Mr. Vijayan also said that carbon neutral

farms will be set up in all 140 Assembly

constituencies of the State. Efforts have

already been launched to make 13 farms in

Kerala carbon-neutral. Carbon neutral

agricultural methods would be implemented

through women’s groups and such

interventions would be made in the tribal

sector as well, he added. Even as the State

moves towards the goal to achieve food

self-sufficiency, plans to maintain ecological

equilibrium are also equally important, the

Chief Minister asserted, adding, as many

as 30% of greenhouse gas emissions come

from agriculture and this can be prevented

and climate change can be regulated

through carbon-neutral agricultural

practices.

According to the definition given by

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC), carbon-neutrality or net

zero emissions refers only to Carbon

Dioxide (CO2

) emissions and is a state of

balance between the CO2

emitted into the

atmosphere and the CO2

removed from the

atmosphere. In actual business practice,

organisations often use the term “carbonneutrality” to include all greenhouse

gas (GHG) emissions when they announce

their ambitious emissions reduction

targets.

Seven Of 10 New Schools In

India Private: UNESCO Report

South Asia has undergone tremendous

education upgrades in the last 30 years,

surpassing the rest of the globe. While it is

India which is driving these regional uplifts,

seven out of every 10 new schools

established in the country in past eight years

are private independent schools, according

to the UNESCO’s new Global Education

Monitoring Report 2022, published on

November 3, 2022. The report says that

inadequate supply and quality of public

education, combined with parental

aspirations, have driven private education

growth in India, as it calls for increased

attention to the implemen-tation of

regulations covering equity and quality across

all schools so that no children are left

behind. It found that 67,000 of the 97,000

schools established in India since 2014 have

been private and unaided.

Highlighting that non-state actors are

significantly involved in every aspect of

education systems in South Asia, the report

stated that about a third of students in India

and Pakistan, and a quarter in Nepal are in

private schools that receive no state

assistance. Over 90% of teacher education

institutions in India are funded only by fees.

The report says: “Only 46% of adults

agreed that the primary responsibility for

providing school education rested with the

government, the lowest share amongst 35

middle- and high-income countries.” The

survey found that 73% of parents in India

chose private schools because public schools

did not meet quality standards, 12% because

they offered English-medium education and

10% because public schools were not

available. An analysis of the preferences of

4,400 parents from low-income households

across eight cities in India found that over

86% of the children were enrolled in a

budget private school or would expect to

transition to one in Class I. The main choice

criteria included English-medium

instruction, school’s ability to provide classes

beyond pre-primary, proximity to home, and

education quality proxies such as school

reputation.

64 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

World’s 1st 3D-Printed

Single-Piece Rocket Engine

Test-fired In India

The world’s first single-piece

3D-printed rocket engine developed by

Chennai-based Indian start-up Agnikul

Cosmos was successfully test-fired from

the vertical test facility at Thumba

Equatorial Rocket Launching Station of

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC),

Thiruvananthapuram, on November 4, 2022.

The rocket engine, named ‘Agnilet’, has been

fully designed and manufactured in the

country—a major milestone for 3D printing

technology in India. The success of rocket

engine test will boost the development of

the Agnikul Cosmos’s launch vehicle

‘Agnibaan’, capable of carrying up to 100

to 300 kg of payload to the low Earth orbit

(up to an altitude of 700 km). With the

support of IN-SPACe and ISRO, the test

was conducted to validate the technological

possibility of making rocket engines as a

single-piece hardware.

Agnikul Cosmos, the space technology

start-up with its headquarter in Chennai, has

already received a patent from the

government for creating their single-piece

rocket engines. Additionally, it has

announced the opening of Rocket Factory1, the country’s first rocket facility for 3D

printing, which is located in the IIT Madras

Research Park. The start-up has been

established by Mr. Srinath Ravichandran, an

engineer from the College of Guindy with

a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering

from the University of Illinois and Mr. Moin

SPM, an aerospace engineer with a

degree from Anna University and an MBA

in aeronautics from the University of

Newcastle.

India’s First Privately Built Rocket,

Vikram-S, Launched By ISRO

India’s first privately-built rocket, VikramSuborbital (VKS), was launched by the Indian

Space Research Organisation (ISRO),

marking the entry of private players in the

space sector. The Vikram-S has been

developed by Skyroot Aerospace, a space

start-up, and named after Vikram Sarabhai,

hailed as the father of India’s space sector.

The mission has been named ‘Prarambh’,

which literally translates as “beginning”. The

rocket, weighing 546 kilograms, was launched

from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh at

around 11.30 a.m. on November 18, 2022.

The rocket achieved the peak apogee of

89.5 km while the target was 80 km.

Until now, the country’s space industry

has been dominated by the state-run ISRO,

but Skyroot Aerospace has opened up the

sector to private companies. Experts called

it a “milestone” and “a new era” in the space

history of India. This mission symbolises

not just India’s first private rocket launch

but also “the potential of new India,” said

Mr. Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder

of Skyroot Aerospace after the launch. This

comes after the Modi government at the

Centre had opened the space sector for

participation by private players in June 2020.

The government had called it a big reform

amid the push for ‘Make in India’ mission.

“This is indeed a new Prarambh (beginning)

for the private space sector,” said Union

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for

Science & Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Hyderabad-based Skyroot Aerospace,

founded in 2018 and backed by Singapore

sovereign wealth fund GIC, became the first

space start-up in 2021 to sign an agreement

to use ISRO’s launch and test facilities after

the government opened the door to private

companies. According to the Skyroot

Aersopace, Vikram “is a series of modular

Space launch vehicles especially crafted for

the small satellite market.” “Launching

satellites to space will soon become as easy

as booking a cab—quick, precise and

affordable!” the firm says on its official

website. Vikram-S is capable of reaching

Mach 5, five times the speed of sound; and

it can carry a payload of 83 kg to 100

kilometres.

Supreme Court Upholds 10%

EWS Quota In 3-2 Split Verdict

A five-judge constitution bench of the

Supreme Court upheld the 103rd

Constitutional Amendment, allowing the

Union Government to introduce a 10%

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 65

reservation for economically weaker sections

(EWS) of General category persons in

admissions to educational institutes and

government jobs. The judgement on

November 7, 2022 was passed by a 3-2

opinion, with Mr. Justice Dinesh

Maheshwari and Mr. Justice J.B. Pardiwala

and Ms. Justice Bela M. Trivedi upholding

the amendment to give 10% EWS

reservation while the then CJI Mr. U.U. Lalit

and Mr. Justice S. Ravindra Bhat dissented

and called for striking down the amendment.

There were four different judgements on

pleas challenging the EWS quota and the

then CJI Mr. Lalit went with the lone

dissenting view of Mr. Justice Bhat.

While the three judges delivering the

majority judgement described reservation as

“an instrument not only for inclusion of

socially and educationally backward classes

to the mainstream of society, but also for

the inclusion of any class or section so

disadvantaged” and agreed that the

amendment does not violate the basic

structure of the Constitution, the dissenting

judges said the EWS quota is “contradictory

to the essence of equal opportunity” and

“strikes at the heart of the equality code”.

Both the dissenting judges were of the

opinion that “while the ‘economic criteria’

per se is permissible in relation to access of

public goods (under Article 15), the same is

not true for Article 16, the goal of which is

empowerment, through representation of

the community”.

Interestingly, the issue of validity of

reservation purely on economic criteria

received unanimous opinion from all judges

on the bench, who said that there is no

Constitutional bar on the reservation on

economic criteria, a point that could have a

larger impact on the future of the

reservation policy. This issue of breach of

50% limit of reservation also received

unanimous agreement by all judges that the

50% quota limit imposed by the Indira

Sawhney judgement is not an absolute figure.

The exclusion of SCs, STs and OBCs

was the only issue that saw dissenting judges

go against the majority verdict which said

that there is nothing wrong with excluding

the “disadvantaged” groups who receive the

benefit of reservation under other

provisions of Articles 15 and 16. Mr. Justice

Bhat said on the issue that by excluding a

large section of equally poor and destitute

individuals—based on their social

backwardness and legally acknowledged caste

stigmatisation—from the benefit of the new

opportunities created for the poor, the

amendment practices constitutionallyprohibited forms of discrimination. The

opposition to the 10% EWS quota

amendment on the basis of allegation of

“discrimination” towards SC, ST, OBC

groups prompted the bench to suggest

extensive reforms to the reservation system.

Tata-Airbus To Manufacture

C-295 Transport Aircraft For

IAF In Gujarat’s Vadodara

A joint venture of Airbus Defence &

Space and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd.

(TASL) is to manufacture C-295 transport

aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) in

Gujarat’s Vadodara. Prime Minister

Mr. Narendra Modi laid the foundation

stone of the joint manufacturing facility of

the Airbus-Tata Consortium on October 30,

2022. The facility will produce C-295

medium transport planes. This is the first

time when the C-295 aircraft will be

manufactured outside of Europe and by a

private company in India. Calling it

transformative, PM Mr. Modi said, “The

transport aircraft that will be manufactured

here will not only give power to our armed

forces but also develop a new ecosystem

for manufacturing of the aircraft in the

country. Soon, India will witness the

passenger aircraft, too, that will be made

with the tag of Made in India.”

The Airbus C-295 aircraft is a transport

plane with a 5-10 tonne capacity. The

C-295 is a new-generation tactical airlifter

in the light and medium segment. It has a

rear ramp door for quick reaction and paradropping of troops and cargo. Short

takeoff/landing from semi-prepared surfaces

is another of its features. The aircraft is

fully certified and routinely operates day and

night in combat missions in all-weather

66 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

extremes, from desert to maritime

environments, from extremely hot to

extremely cold temperatures. Till now, more

than 250 aircraft have been ordered by

customers worldwide.

According to the contract signed in 2021,

the IAF will procure 56 C-295 medium

transport aircraft which will replace the

ageing Avro-748 planes of the IAF. First 16

aircraft will be delivered in a fly-away

condition by Airbus Defence & Space within

48 months of signing the contract. The

remaining 40 planes will be manufactured

in India by the Tata-Airbus consortium

within 10 years of signing the contract. The

16 fly-away aircraft are scheduled to be

received between September 2023 and

August 2025. The first Made in India aircraft

is expected to be out of the facility in

September 2026 and the remaining 39 will

have to be produced by August 2031. Every

year, a total of 8 aircraft will be produced

at the facility. The cost of the entire project

is Rs. 21,935 crore.

The manufacturing unit will also cater to

the export of the premier transport aircraft

as well as for additional orders by the IAF.

Over 100 Micro, Small and Medium

Enterprises (MSMEs), spread over seven

states, will be linked to this project. The

indigenous content in the plane will be the

highest ever in India and 96% of the work

that Airbus does in Spain to produce the

plane will be done at the manufacturing

facility at Vadodara. The project offers a

unique opportunity for the Indian private

sector to enter into the technology-intensive

and highly competitive aviation industry.

GM Mustard Gets Regulator’s

Approval For Field Cultivation

India’s biotech regulator, the Genetic

Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC),

under the Union Environment Ministry, gave

its approval to seed production of

genetically-modified (GM) mustard, paving

the way for the country’s first indigenouslydeveloped transgenic hybrid mustard. It

provides opportunity for farmers to grow

India’s first GM food crop. In its meeting

on October 18, 2022, minutes of which were

published only on October 26, 2022, the

country’s regulator for GM organisms,

recommended the “environmental release”

of the transgenic Dhara Mustard Hybrid 11

(DMH-11), developed by the Centre for

Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants

(CGMCP) at Delhi University.

The approval is for a limited period of

two years and is “renewable for two years at

a time based on compliance report”, the

GEAC said, imposing a clutch of conditions

to be met by owners of the product.

Additional research and coordinated trials

must also be carried out together with the

Indian Council of Agriculture Research

(ICAR) within two years. Whether the

GEAC’s green signal would also tantamount

to final government clearance was, however,

yet to be cleared.

Mustard is a largely self-pollinating

crop, which makes development of

hybrids difficult in the natural course. The

CGMCP scientists, who have developed

DMH-11, claim that it is a robust and viable

hybridisation system for mustard. DMH-11

contains two alien genes, called ‘barnase’ and

‘barstar’ and isolated from a soil bacterium

called Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens that enable

the breeding of high-yielding commercial

mustard hybrids. Developed in collaboration

with the National Dairy Development Board

and partly funded by the Department of

Biotechnology, DMH-11 is testimony to

homegrown scientific prowess. However,

GM technologies have been fiercely resisted

by green activists, amid fears that they could

compromise food security, lead to seed

monopolies and become biosafety hazards.

Approximately 60 lakh farmers in the

states of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and

Madhya Pradesh grow mustard on

65-70 lakh hectares of land. It has been

revealed that DMH-11 produces 30% higher

yields than the current types. While the

global average production of mustard is

around 2,000 kilogrammes per hectare, the

average output of the present mustard types

is approximately 1,000 to 1,200 kilogrammes

per hectare. India has till date approved

GM breeding technology only in cotton. The

country started commercial cultivation of

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 67

BT Cotton in 2002, which resulted in an

impressive three-fold increase in cotton yield

within a decade. The first transgenic food

crop BT Brinjal was accorded approval in

2009 but was later stayed because of fierce

opposition from environmental activists.

India also permits import of BT Soya oil,

but its local cultivation is not allowed.

ISRO’s Heaviest Rocket

Successfully Places 36 Satellites

In Low Earth Orbit

Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) announced that LVM3 M2/OneWeb

India-1 mission is “completed successfully”

as “all the 36 satellites have been placed

into intended orbits”. The ISRO’s heaviest

rocket Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3 or

GSLV Mark 3) blasted off from the second

launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space

Centre in Sriharikota on October 23, 2022

to place 36 broadband communication

satellites of UK-based OneWeb into the

designated Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

The LVM3 rocket carried almost six

tonnes of payload into lower-earth orbit

which was the heaviest payload that any

ISRO mission has delivered into space so

far. The 43.6 metre tall LVM3 is dubbed as

one of the heaviest for its ability to carry

satellites upto 8,000 kg. Only few countries

have the capability to launch satellites

weighing more than two tonnes. The mission

now reaffirms the viability of the LVM3

rocket for much-awaited missions like

Gaganyaan (manned mission), Moon

landings and deep space explorations in the

near future. It is also a big step towards

being self-reliant in launch of heavy

satellites. Previously, ISRO used to take the

services of Ariane rockets of Europe to

launch its heavy satellites.

The LVM3-M2 is the dedicated

commercial satellite mission launched by the

New Space India Limited (NSIL), a Central

Public Sector Enterprise under the

Department of Space. The mission assumes

significance as this was LVM3’s maiden

commercial mission and also NSIL’s first

with the said launch vehicle. The successful

mission strengthens ISRO’s claim as a

serious player in the heavy satellite launch

market. Also, the achievement is likely to

boost India’s efforts to increase its market

share in space sector. Currently, India

accounts only for 2% of the global market

of space sector despite being one of the

foremost space-faring countries.

India Hosts 90th General

Assembly Of INTERPOL

The International Criminal Police

Organization or INTERPOL organised its

90th General Assembly in New Delhi from

October 18 to 21, 2022. India hosted the

INTERPOL General Assembly meeting

after a gap of about 25 years as it was last

held in the country in 1997. The Assembly

was attended by 195 INTERPOL member

countries, comprising ministers, police chiefs

of countries, heads of national central

bureaus, and senior police officers. As its

main theme, the Assembly explored diverse

perspectives on the future of policing in an

increasingly digitalised world, challenges it

poses, responses to the threats emerging

from use of technology in crimes and

INTERPOL’s vision for 2030.

Opening the international event, Prime

Minister Mr. Narendra Modi said that a safe

and secure world is a shared responsibility.

“Over the last 99 years, INTERPOL has

connected police globally over 195 countries.

When the forces of good cooperate, the

forces of bad cannot operate,” said Mr.

Modi. “There are many harmful globalised

threats that the world faces: terrorism,

corruption, drug trafficking, poaching and

organised crime. When threats are global,

the response cannot be just local. The pace

of change of these dangers is faster than

ever,” he added.

The four-day conference saw the launch

of the firs-ever INTERPOL Global Crime

Trend report, which drew on data and

information from across the organisation’s

195 member countries to identify current

and emerging threats worldwide. Among the

major crime threats identified in the report,

financial and cybercrimes were highlighted

as being of particular concern. To address

these threats, resolutions to strengthen the

68 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

organisation’s collaborative response to

disrupting financial crimes and corruption,

and encouraging greater use of

INTERPOL’s International Child Sexual

Exploitation database to identify and rescue

victims of abuse were passed.

PM Modi, UN Chief Guterres

Launch Mission LiFE

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and

United Nations Secretary General

Mr. Antonio Guterres jointly launched

Mission LiFE or Lifestyle for Environment,

a global plan of action aimed at saving the

planet from the disastrous consequences of

climate change, at the Statue of Unity in

Kevadia, Gujarat on October 20, 2022. The

launch came ahead of the mega UN climate

meet in Egypt. Along with the action plan—

a list of ideas on lifestyle changes that can

be taken up as climate-friendly behaviour,

the logo and tagline for Mission LiFE were

also launched.

Mr. Modi said that the Mission LiFE will

strengthen the concept of a pro-people

planet, adding that it aims at following a

three-pronged strategy for changing people’s

collective approach towards sustainability.

This includes nudging individuals to practise

simple yet effective environment-friendly

actions in their daily lives (demand),

enabling industries and markets to

respond swiftly to the changing demand

(supply), and to influence government

and industrial policy to support both

sustainable consumption and production

(policy).

Envisaged by PM Mr. Modi, Mission

LiFE is expected to be an India-led global

mass movement that will nudge individual

and collective action to protect and preserve

the environment, said Prime Minister’s

Office (PMO). Mission LiFE will be India’s

signature initiative at the United Nations and

other international platforms for showcasing

climate action and early achievement of the

Sustainable Development Goals, according

to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

statement.

On his part, the UN chief said that India

can play a critical bridging role in building

trust between the developing and the

developed nations. “Individuals and

communities can and must be a part of the

solution of protecting our planet and our

collective future,” he added. Messages

poured in from world leaders for the success

of Mission LiFE. Georgia Prime Minister

Mr. Irakli Garibashvili said, “Georgia

welcomes and fully supports this global

initiative, timely introduced by PM Mr. Modi

who promotes an environmentally conscious

lifestyle that focusses on the principle of

mindful & deliberate utilisations.” Estonia

Prime Minister Ms. Kaja Kallas said, “Need

for a collective response to address climate

change is stronger than ever. We are grateful

to PM Mr. Modi for his leadership with

UN Secretary-General Mr. Antonio Guterres

for launching Mission LiFE.”

Single Brand Bharat Urea With

600 PM-KSKs Launched

The Union Government started a new

scheme—Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan

Urvarak Pariyojana—One Nation One

Fertiliser—under which it is mandatory for

companies to market all subsidised

fertilisers under single brand ‘Bharat’. Prime

Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched the

single brand Bharat under the new scheme

in New Delhi on October 17, 2022. He also

inaugurated 600 Prime Minister Kisan

Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK) that will act

as a one-stop-shop for farmers who can

buy products and avail multiple services

related to the agriculture sector.

The single brand Bharat urea has

been brought in to prevent criss-cross

movement of fertilisers and reduce high

freight subsidy. All subsidised soil

nutrients—urea, Di-Ammonium Phosphate

(DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP) and

NPK—will be marketed under the single

brand Bharat across the nation. The Centre

intends to convert more than 3.3 lakh

fertiliser retail shops across the country into

PM-KSK in a phased manner. The PM-KSK

will supply agri-inputs like seeds, fertilisers

and farm implements. It will also

provide testing facilities for soil, seeds

and fertilisers. Information about the

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 69

government schemes will also be provided

at the PM-KSK.

Prime Minister Mr. Modi also launched

‘Indian Edge’, an e-magazine on fertilisers.

It will provide information on domestic and

international fertiliser scenarios, including

recent develop-ments, price trends analysis,

availability and consumption, etc.

Number Of Poor People In

India Fell By 415 Million In

15 Years: UN

The number of poor people in

India fell by about 415 million between

2005-06 and 2019-21, “a historic

change” and “a demonstration that the

Sustainable Development Goal target of

reducing at least by half the proportion of

men, women and children of all ages living

in poverty by 2030 is possible to achieve,

even at a large scale”. This was stated by

the new Multidimensional Poverty Index

(MPI) that the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford

Poverty and Human Development Initiative

(OPHI) at the University of Oxford released

on October 17, 2022.

The poorest states and groups in India

(children, lower castes and those living in

rural areas) reduced poverty the fastest in

absolute terms. Of the nearly 415 million

people who exited poverty in India

in the 15 years prior to the Covid-19

pandemic, roughly 275 million did so

between 2005-06 and 2015-16 and 140

million did so between 2015-16 and

2019-21. The country’s MPI value and

incidence of poverty were both more than

halved. “India’s progress shows that this goal

is feasible”, the MPI showed.

Children, the poorest age group, saw the

fastest reduction in MPI value, the report

said. The incidence of poverty fell from

34.7% to 21.8% among children and from

24% to 13.9% among adults. Similarly, the

poorest castes and religious groups saw the

fastest absolute reduction in the recent

period. This general pattern continues across

the States and Union Territories. Bihar, the

poorest state in 2015-16, saw the fastest

reduction in MPI value in absolute terms.

The incidence of poverty in Bihar fell from

77.4% in 2005-06 to 52.4% in 2015-16 to

34.7% in 2019-21. Across States and Union

Territories in India, the fastest reduction in

relative terms was in Goa, followed by

Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Rural areas were

the poorest and saw the fastest reduction in

MPI value, the report said. The incidence

of poverty fell from 36.6% in 2015-16 to

21.2% in 2019-21 in rural areas and from

9% to 5.5% in urban areas.

Ushering In A New Era Of

Technology, Prime Minister

Launches 5G Services In India

India entered a new era of technology as

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched

5G services in the country that promise

ultra-high-speed Internet, seamless coverage,

high data rate, low latency and highly reliable

communication. It will also increase energy

efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network

efficiency. Speaking on the occasion at

Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on October 1,

2022, Prime Minister said that the launch

of 5G services is “a gift from the telecom

industry to 130 crore Indians” and “a step

towards a new era” and also “the beginning

of infinite opportunities”. He mentioned

that at the time of 2G, 3G and 4G services,

India was dependent on other countries for

technology but with the launch of 5G

services, the country has created a new

history as with the 5G, India is setting a

global standard in telecom technology for

the first time.

Touching upon the vision of the Digital

India programme, Prime Minister Mr. Modi

said that the programme has a very big

vision of development and its aim is to take

the technology to the common people which

works for the people and by connecting with

the people. He said that Digital India’s

success is based on four pillars which include

the cost of digital devices, digital

connectivity, data costs and a digital-first

approach, emphasising that the government

has focussed on all of them. The Prime

Minister said that India may not have

benefitted from the first three industrial

70 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

revolutions, but he is confident that India

will take full benefit of the 4th industrial

revolution and in fact, the country will lead

it. He said that the use of 5G technology

will not be limited to speedy Internet access,

but it also has the capability to change lives.

For consumers, 5G will provide superior

Internet speed and low latency. At its peak,

Internet speeds on 5G could touch 10 Gbps,

compared to the 100 Mbps peak of 4G.

Similarly, latency under 4G is between

10-100 ms (millisecond), whereas it is

expected to be under 1 ms on 5G. Latency

is the time it takes for a device to send

packets of data and get a response.

According to the government estimates, the

cumulative economic impact of 5G is

expected to touch $450 billion by 2035.

SC: All Women, Married Or

Unmarried, Are Entitled To

Safe & Legal Abortion

Both married and unmarried women are

entitled to safe and legal abortions, said the

Supreme Court while delivering a landmark

verdict on the interpretation of the Medical

Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act on

September 29, 2022. Holding that marriage

could not be the source of abortion rights

and one needs to recognise other structures

beyond families for such rights.

The Supreme Court said that the

distinction between married and unmarried

women under the abortion laws is artificial

and constitutionally unsustainable. It

perpetuates the stereotype that only married

women are sexually active, the court said.

“The decision to carry a pregnancy or to

abort it lies in reproductive autonomy and

is rooted in bodily autonomy. The treatment

can’t be denied based on marital status,” the

court held.

The Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud,

A.S. Bopanna, and J.B. Pardiwala also said,

“Excluding unmarried woman from

terminating pregnancy beyond 20 weeks is

violative of Article 14.” The case pertained

to a 25-year-old woman who wanted to abort

her 24-week pregnancy arising out of a

consensual relationship. The woman had said

that her partner, with whom she was in a

consensual relationship, had refused to

marry her.

It is pertinent to note that the Article 14

of the Constitution says that the state shall

not deny to any person equality before the

law on the grounds of religion, race, caste,

sex or place of birth. As per the MTP Rules,

only survivors of rape, minors, women

whose marital status changed during

pregnancy, mentally-ill women, or women

with foetal malformation are allowed to

terminate pregnancy up to 24 weeks. This

did not include unmarried women whose

pregnancy arises out of a consensual

relationship.

Centre Bans PFI

For Terror Links

Days after law enforcement agencies

launched a nationwide crackdown against

the Popular Front of India (PFI) and

arrested its more than 270 activists, the

Union Government banned the PFI and its

eight affiliates for five years, through a

notification on September 28, 2022.

Invoking the Unlawful Activities

(Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, to effect

the ban, the Union Ministry of Home

Affairs said that the PFI and its affiliates

are linked to terror groups like the ISIS,

propagate “anti-national sentiments...

radicalise a particular section of society with

the intention to create disaffection” and

constitute a “major threat to internal security

of the country”.

While the PFI professes that their

organisation is a ‘neo-social movement for

the empowerment of marginalised sections

in India’, the government agencies allege

that they are at the centre of a covert

network that promotes Islamic terrorism

funded by foreign forces including Pakistan.

The government notification says,

“Exercising the powers conferred by subsection (1) of Section 3 of the Unlawful

Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967,

the Central Government declared the PFI

and eight affiliated organs ‘unlawful

associations’.” With addition of PFI, India’s

list of banned outfits now has 42 such

organisations.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 71

The government’s objective apparently

was to root out the entire PFI network,

which is why the ban covers eight allied

organisations too—Rehab India Foundation,

Campus Front of India (students’ wing),

All India Imams Council, National

Confederation of Human Rights

Organisations, National Women’s Front,

Junior Front, Empower India Foundation

and Rehab Foundation, Kerala. The

notification claims these wings had a ‘hub

and spoke’ relationship with the PFI acting

as the hub and utilising the mass outreach

and fund-raising capacity of its affiliates to

strengthen its capacity for unlawful activities.

These fronts ‘function as roots and

capillaries through which the PFI is fed and

strengthened’, reads the notification. The

ban, however, left out the Social Democratic

Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of

the PFI.

India, China Complete

Disengagement At PP-15

In Eastern Ladakh

Indian and Chinese troops completed

disengagement at Patrolling Point 15

(PP-15) in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of

eastern Ladakh in “a phased, coordinated,

and verified manner” on September 13,

2022. In a significant forward movement

in the stalled process to pull out troops from

the remaining friction points in the region,

both armies on September 8, 2022 had

announced that they had kicked off the

disengagement process at the PP-15. The

disengagement in the Gogra-Hot Springs

area was an outcome of the 16th round of

India-China military talks on July 17, 2022

in which many of the bigger issues between

the two sides were resolved.

The disengagement at PP-15 marks a step

forward in the resolution of the ongoing

military standoff with China. With this, the

troops would return to pre-April 2020

positions along the Line of Actual

Control (LAC). India has been consistently

maintaining that peace and tranquillity

along the LAC were key for the overall

development of the bilateral ties.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff

erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent

clash in the Pangong Lake areas. Both sides

gradually enhanced their deployment by

rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers

and heavy weaponry. However, the longstanding issues at Depsang Plains and

Demchok are yet to be resolved and an

overall de-escalation along the LAC remains

to be achieved, with both sides having

deployed nearly 50,000 troops in the Ladakh

region since the standoff began in 2020.

Prime Minister Launches

National Logistics Policy

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

launched the National Logistics Policy

(NLP) that aims to bring down the high

logistics costs in the country in order to

improve the competitiveness of Indian

goods both in domestic as well as

international markets. Launching the policy

at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on September

17, 2022, PM Mr. Modi said that it was an

“important step towards the making of a

developed India, calling the policy a

“solution for many problems”, which would

lead to improvements of “all our systems”.

A comprehen-sive action plan, integration

of logistics-related digital systems, and an

online mechanism for secure exchange of

docu-ments are the key elements of the

NLP.

The three main targets of the policy are

reducing logistics cost in India to be

comparable to global benchmarks by 2030;

efforts to bring India among the top 20

nations by 2030 in the Logistics Performance

Index ranking, and creating a data-driven

decision support mechanism for an efficient

logistics ecosystem. The vision is to develop

a technologically-enabled, integrated, costefficient, resilient and sustainable logistics

ecosystem in the country for accelerated

growth. The policy aims at reducing the

logistics cost from about 13% of GDP to

7.5% of the GDP and generating jobs in

the coming years.

The main parameters of the policy

include harmonisation and standar-disation,

trade and transport facilitation, digitisation

72 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

and skill development. The policy would

provide a multi-modal digital connectivity

solution. The proposed action plan would

include integrated digital logistics systems;

standardisation of physical assets and

benchmarking service quality standards, state

engagement, human resource development

and capacity building, export-import

logistics, sectorial plans for efficient logistics

and facilitation of the development of

logistics parks.

Under the human resource development,

the focus has been given to mainstream

logistics in higher education, and the

development of online training programmes.

A task force would be formed with a

mandate to identify action areas. Under

export-import logistics, the focus would be

on addressing infrastructure and procedural

gaps; and developing institutional

mechanisms for trade facilitation.

India spends around 13% to 14% of the

GDP on logistics costs. According to the

World Bank Logistics Index of 2018, India

is ranked 44th in logistics costs. The logistics

sector has more than 20 government

agencies, 40 partner government agencies

(PGAs), 37 export promotion councils, 500

certifications, over 10,000 commodities, and

a $160-billion market. It also involves 200

shipping agencies, 36 logistics services, 129

Inland Container Depots (ICDs), 168

Container Freight Stations (CFSs), 50 IT

ecosystems, banks and insurance agencies.

Cabinet Approves Inclusion Of

15 Tribal Communities In ST List

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal

to include about 15 tribal communities in

the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list in five states,

namely Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh,

Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh,

as part of the Constitution (Scheduled

Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, on

September 14, 2022. After the Bill becomes

an Act, the members of the communities

newly listed in the revised list of STs will

also be able to avail themselves of benefits

meant for STs under the existing schemes

of the Union Government. Some of the

major schemes include Post-Matric

Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship,

National Fellowship, Top Class Education,

Concessional loans from National Scheduled

Tribes Finance and Development

Corporation and Hostels for ST boys and

girls, etc.

In Himachal Pradesh, ST status has been

granted to the Hattees, a close-knit

community of 1.60 lakh people of TranGiri region in Sirmaur district, who got their

name from their tradition of selling

homegrown vegetables, crops, meat and

wool, etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in

towns. The community had been making

the demand for inclusion in the ST list since

1967, when tribal status was accorded to

people of their community living in the

Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand, which

shares a border with Sirmaur district.

In Tamil Nadu, nomadic tribes—

Narikuravas and Kuruvikaras (jackal catchers

and bird eaters)—who pride themselves on

their traditional occupa-tions of hunting and

gathering, have been given ST status. In

Karnataka, Betta-Kuruba community, as a

synonym of Kadu Kuruba, has been granted

ST status.

In Uttar Pradesh, five subcastes of Gond

community, namely Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha,

Pathari and Rajgond, spread over 13 districts

of the state, have been brought under the

ST list from the Scheduled Castes list.

In Chhattisgarh, Binjhia community,

which is already listed as ST in Jharkhand

and Odisha, has now joined the ST

list in the state too. Synonyms for 12

existing tribes in the ST list from the state,

have also been approved. These include

Bharia (variations added are Bhumia and

Bhuyian), Gadhwa (Gadwa), Dhanwar

(Dhanawar, Dhanuwar), Nagesia (Nagasia,

Kisan), and Pondh (Pond), among others.

Rajpath Transforms Into

Kartavya Path, Netaji Statue

Installed

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

inaugurated a new ‘Kartavya Path’ (Path of

Duty), a redeveloped 3.2-km stretch from

India Gate to the Rashtrapati Bhawan in

New Delhi, earlier known as Rajpath.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 73

Mr. Modi also unveiled a grand statue of

freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose

at the famed canopy at India Gate. Both

the events, on September 8, 2022, marked a

milestone transition in the history of India,

as for the first time ‘Netaji’ has been

accorded a place that was once occupied by

an imposing marble statue of British

monarch King George V, while the shift

from erstwhile Rajpath (Kingsway), an icon

of power, to Kartavya Path (Path of Duty),

an example of public ownership and

empowerment, symbolises erasure of

colonial domination. The thrust on abolition

of all symbols of colonial mindset is one

of the five pledges the PM had spelt out in

his 2022 Independence Day speech.

The revamped Kartavya Path is a part of

the Union Government’s ambitious Central

Vista redevelopment project. In the colonial

era, the stretch was named Kingsway or

King’s Path, in the honour of King George

V of Britain after the historic ‘Delhi Durbar’

held in 1911. After Independence, the road

was renamed as Rajpath, a mere Hindi

translation of its previous name. On

September 7, 2022, New Delhi Municipal

Corporation (NDMC) passed a proposal

renaming Rajpath and Central Vista lawns

as Kartavya Path. The redeveloped Kartavya

Path now has 15.5-km-long new red granite

walkways and 4 new pedestrian underpasses.

All 74 historic light poles and all chain links

have been upgraded and more than 900 new

light poles have been added, located along

the road, canals, rows of trees, newly-created

park bays and the India Gate precinct.

Concrete bollards have been replaced with

more than 1,000 white sandstone bollards

to maintain the precinct’s historical character.

Nineteen acres of total canal area have been

refurbished and reinforced. There are 16

bridges on the entire stretch.

The 28-feet black granite statue of Netaji

has been installed at the canopy, standing

on the four columns of the Delhi Order

devised by Sir Edwin Lutyens, that was lying

vacant since the statue of king was removed

in 1968. Carved out of a monolithic block

of jet black granite weighing 280 metric

tonnes, the Netaji statue is reflective of

Bose’s “very strong character”. A team of

20 to 25 sculptors led by renowned artist

Mr. Arun Yogiraj, belonging to a family of

Mysuru Palace artists and the son of noted

sculptor Yogiraj Shilpi, worked on the Netaji

statue. The National Gallery of Modern Art

under the Union Ministry of Culture,

prepared the design for the statue. The statue

is completely “hand-sculpted using

traditional techniques and modern tools”.

Cabinet Approves PM-SHRI

Scheme To Raise Quality

Of Education

The Union Cabinet approved a new

scheme, called Prime Minister’s School for

Rising India or PM-SHRI, which envisages

to upgrade 14,597 schools across the

country, including Kendriya Vidyalayas and

Navodaya Vidyalayas, to model schools.

More than 18 lakh students are expected to

be direct beneficiaries of the new Centrallysponsored scheme. Further impact will be

generated through the mentoring and handholding of the schools in the vicinity of

PM-SHRI schools. The scheme, approved

on September 7, 2022, will seek to

strengthen existing schools from amongst

those managed by the Central and State

governments, as well as local bodies. The

scheme will be implemented with a total

project cost of Rs. 27,360 crore which

includes a Central share of Rs. 18,128 crore

for the period of five years from year

2022-23 to 2026-27. Under the PM-SHRI

Scheme, the Union Government for the first

time has decided to adopt the Direct Benefit

Transfer (DBT) route for allocation of funds

to schools.

The PM-SHRI schools will showcase all

components of the National Education

Policy 2020, act as exemplar schools and

also offer mentorship to other schools in

their vicinity. These schools will deliver

quality teaching for the cognitive

development of students and will strive to

create and nurture holistic and well-rounded

individuals equipped with key 21st Century

skills. Hence, these schools will follow

“experiential and holistic” pedagogy to help

develop inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented

74 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

learning approaches for the students. The

schools will also be digitally equipped

including virtual labs and ICT labs. Schools

will have to follow a School Quality

Assessment Framework (SQAF), which will

be used to measure learning outcomes in

these schools. Schools to be included for

upgradation under PM-SHRI Scheme will

be selected based on 60-point agenda

including availability of drinking water,

playground, boundary wall and more.

The PM-SHRI schools will be

developed as Green schools, incorpora-ting

environment-friendly aspects like solar

panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens

with natural farming, waste management,

plastic free, water conservation and

harvesting, study of traditions/practices

related to protection of environment,

climate change related hackathon and

awareness generation to adopt sustainable

lifestyle.

Selection of PM-SHRI schools will be

done through Challenge Mode wherein

schools compete for support to become

exemplar schools. The schools would be

required to self-apply on the online portal.

The portal will be opened four times a year,

once every quarter, for first two years of

the scheme.

India Ranks 132 Out Of 191 In

UNDP’s Human Development

Index

India ranked 132 out of 191 countries in

the 2021 Human Development Index

(HDI), according to a report released by

the United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP) on September 8, 2022.

India’s HDI value of 0.633 places in the

medium human development category is

lower than its value of 0.645 in the 2020

report. India ranked 131 among 189

countries in the 2020 Human Development

Index. “Like global trends, in India’s case,

the drop in HDI from 0.645 in 2019 to

0.633 in 2021 can be attributed to falling

life expectancy—69.7 to 67.2 years. India’s

expected years of schooling stand at 11.9

years, and the mean years of schooling are

at 6.7 years,” the report said. Human

Development—a measure of a nation’s

health, education and average income—has

declined for two years in a row, in 2020 and

2021, reversing five years of progress, the

report added.

India’s HDI value, however, continues to

exceed South Asia’s average human

development. India’s HDI value has been

steadily catching up with the world average

since 1990, indicating a faster than the global

rate of progress in human development.

This is a result of policy choices made by

the country over time, including investments

made in health and education, the report

said. South Asian economies like Bangladesh

and Bhutan bucked the trend and registered

an improvement, the report pointed out.

According to the report, India’s

performance is in line with the

global trend, indicating that human

development across the world has stalled

for the first time in 32 years. A large

contributor to the Human Development

Index’s recent decline is a global

drop in life expectancy, down from

72.8 years in 2019 to 71.4 years in 2021.

The HDI Report, titled “Uncertain Times,

Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a

Transforming World”, argues that layers of

uncertainty are stacking up and interacting

to unsettle life in unprecedented ways. The

report also suggested that stress, sadness,

anger and worry have been increasing over

the last decade, now reaching record levels.

The HDI measures progress on 3 key

dimensions of human development—a long

and healthy life, access to education and a

decent standard of living. It is calculated

using four indicators—life expectancy at

birth, mean years of schooling, expected

years of schooling and the Gross National

Income (GNI) per capita.

Jagdeep Dhankhar Takes Oath

As 14th Vice-President Of India

Former Union Minister and

Governor of West Bengal, Mr. Jagdeep

Dhankhar, was sworn in as the 14th VicePresident of India on August 11, 2022.

Hon’ble President Ms. Droupadi

Murmu administered the oath of office to

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 75

Mr. Dhankhar, 71, in a brief ceremony at

the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Mr. Dhankhar

took oath in Hindi and in the name of

God. Before the swearing-in, the Election

Commission’s certification of election issued

to Mr. Dhankhar was read out. “Bahut-bahut

badhai (many congratulations),” Ms. Murmu

said after Mr. Dhankhar signed the register

of oath. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi,

outgoing Vice-President Mr. M. Venkaiah

Naidu, former President Mr. Ram Nath

Kovind and several Union Ministers were

among the dignitaries present on the

occasion.

Dhankhar’s term as West Bengal

Governor, his long legal career at the

Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme

Court of India as well as a brief stint as the

junior Parliamentary Affairs Minister at the

Centre will come in handy as he presides

over the Rajya Sabha as its Chairman. He is

also known to have warm ties with leaders

across party lines, a quality that would

certainly help him while presiding over the

Upper House of Parliament. Born in a

farmer’s family in Kithana village, district

Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan on May 18, 1951,

Mr. Dhankhar has championed issues related

to Other Backward Classes. He is also

known to be an avid reader and sport

aficionado. Married to Ms. Sudesh, they are

proud parents of a daughter.

Mr. Dhankhar was elected Vice-President

on August 6, 2022 after he secured 538 or

74.36% of a total of 710 votes, as a

candidate backed by the ruling National

Democratic Alliance (NDA), the highest

ever votes received in the last six vicepresidential elections held since 1997. His

challenger and joint opposition’s candidate

Ms. Margaret Alva could garner only 182

votes.

First 2G Ethanol Plant In Panipat

Dedicated To The Nation

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

dedicated India’s first 2G (second

generation) ethanol plant in Panipat, Haryana

through video conferencing on August 10,

2022, the World Biofuel Day. In his speech

at the ceremony, Mr. Modi said that by

blending ethanol with petroleum, the nation

has saved Rs. 50,000 crore in foreign

exchange outflows over the past

7-8 years. He added that this facility will

offer a long-term solution to the issue of

farm stubble burning.

The plant, based on innovative

technology, is close to the Panipat refinery

and has been constructed by the Indian Oil

Corporation at a cost of more than Rs. 900

crore. It plans to use roughly 2 lakh tonnes

of agricultural waste (rice straw) per year to

produce about 3 crore litres of ethanol. By

restricting the burning of rice straw, the

project will eliminate Green House Gases

(GHGs) by about 3 lakh tonnes of carbon

dioxide equivalent emissions per year (crop

residue). Simply put, this is the same as

taking 63,000 cars off the country’s roads

annually, according to the government. The

plant’s main source of raw materials for

ethanol production would be paddy straw.

It will facilitate paddy straw management

and lessen the requirement for on-site

administration.

A renewable fuel derived from diverse

plant resources referred to as biomass,

ethanol is an organic chemical molecule.

First generation (1G) ethanol is made from

raw resources such as cereals, sugarcane juice

and molasses, but second generation (2G)

ethanol plants use extra biomass and

agricultural residues. Carbon dioxide

emissions are decreased when ethanol is

blended with petrol. The increase in car fuel

volume and consequent decrease in

dependence on foreign oil helps India get

closer to its objective of energy security. In

June 2022, India met its goal of a 10%

blending average nationwide five months

earlier than expected. The National Biofuel

Policy, 2018, was later modified by the

government to advance the 2030 target date

for the 20% ethanol blend target in petrol

to 2025-2026.

Blending ethanol provides advantages

beyond lowering emissions, particularly

when using 2G ethanol. Stubble can be

disposed of at the biofuel plant without

burning it. Farmers will now have a

profitable alternative to burning stubble,

76 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

which has been raising pollution levels every

year. It gives the agricultural crop waste a

purpose and might provide extra revenue

for farmers. Along the entire value chain,

the ethanol production facilities will also

generate employment. The Prime Minister

listed five advantages of the plant: reduction

in stubble burning; new job opportunities

through new transport infrastructure, biofuel

plants and stubble cutting and disposing

mechanism; additional income to farmers

from sale of stubble; lowered pollution levels

and farmer’s involvement in environment

protection; and the country getting an

alternative fuel.

Nitish Kumar Takes Oath As

Bihar Chief Minister For

Record 8th Time

Ending the coalition with the Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP), the leader of Janata Dal

(United), Mr. Nitish Kumar, took oath as

Chief Minister of Bihar again for a record

8th time in a span of 22 years since he was

sworn in as the CM of the state in 2000 for

the first time. Along with him, Rashtriya

Janata Dal leader Mr. Tejaswi Yadav was

sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister. They

were administered oath of office by

Governor Mr. Phagu Singh Chauhan at a

simple ceremony on August 10, 2022. While

serving as Chief Minister, Mr. Kumar is now

heading the government of 7-party

Mahagath-bandhan or Grand Alliance from

which he pulled out in 2017 to reunite with

his former ally BJP. Mr. Kumar snapped ties

with the BJP in Bihar alleging that the party

“tried to weaken the JD(U)”.

Subsequently, the new Grand Alliance

government in Bihar won the trust vote with

ease on August 25, 2022 with Chief Minister

launching a sharp attack against his former

ally BJP. The government won the trust

motion with 160 votes in its favour and

none against as the BJP, with a strength of

77 MLAs, staged a walkout before voting

began. All the seven non-BJP parties in the

Assembly voted in favour of the

government. Four MLAs were not present

in the House, which has a current strength

of 242. Earlier, on August 16, 2022, the

newly formed Cabinet was expanded when

31 Ministers—16 from RJD, 11 from JD(U),

2 from Congress, 1 from Hindustan Awam

Morcha (HAM) and 1 independent—took

oath. Left parties extended outside support

to the new government.

Ms. Droupadi Murmu Takes Oath

As The 15th President Of India

Marking an incredible journey from

Odisha's Rairangpur to Raisina Hill,

Ms. Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as the

15th President of India on July 25, 2022.

The date will go down in the annals of

Indian history as Chief Justice of India

Mr. N.V. Ramana administered the oath of

office to the first tribal President of the

country in a gracious ceremony in the

Central Hall of Parliament. At 64,

Ms. Murmu is also the youngest President

of India and also the first to be born in

Independent India. She is also only the

second woman in the highest constitutional

office. Dressed in a hand-woven Santhali

saree in the colours of the national flag,

she greeted the power-packed audience,

including Prime Minister Mr. Narendra

Modi, his cabinet colleagues and Chief

Ministers of almost a dozen states, with

\"Johar\", the traditional Santhali greeting,

asserting her tribal identity with pride and

aplomb.

Immediately after taking the oath, in her

maiden speech, delivered in fluent, flawless

Hindi, Ms. Murmu recalled some of the

challenges she overcame and said that her

election as President of India is not an

individual triumph but triumph of Indian

democracy that allowed a poor woman to

dream and to rise to occupy the highest

constitutional office of the Indian republic.

She said, \"It is the power of India's

democracy that a girl born in a poor tribal

home could reach to the topmost

constitutional post. That I attained the post

of President is not my personal achievement.

It is the achievement of every poor person

in India. My election is proof of the fact

that the poor in India can have dreams and

fulfil them.\" Taking a pledge to protect the

Constitution of India, Hon'ble President

Ms. Murmu also quoted saint, poet and

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 77

philosopher Bhima Bhoi's prayer to Lord

Jagannath, saying that the welfare of the

universe is important, even if one has to

suffer the most to that end.

“Entire nation watched with pride as

Smt. Droupadi Murmuji took oath as the

President of India. Her assuming the

Presidency is a watershed moment for India

especially for the poor, marginalised and

downtrodden,” PM Mr. Modi said in tweet.

Ms. Murmu, who was the candidate of the

ruling NDA, led by Bharatiya Janata Party,

emerged victorious in the Presidential

election after counting of votes on July 21,

2022. She received 2,824 votes with a

value of 6,76,803 while her opponent

Mr. Yashwant Sinha, who was the

candidate of joint opposition, secured

1,877 votes with a value of 3,80,177. Voting

for the presidential election was held on

July 18, 2022.

India's First Indigenous Aircraft

Carrier INS Vikrant Handed

Over To Navy

A new maritime history was created on

July 28, 2022 when India's first prestigious

Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) was

delivered to the Indian Navy by its builder

Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi.

Designed by the Navy's in-house Directorate

of Naval Design (DND) and built by CSL,

a Public Sector Shipyard under the Union

Ministry of Shipping (MoS), the carrier is

christened after her illustrious predecessor,

India's first Aircraft Carrier which played a

vital role in the 1971 war. The reincarnation

of Vikrant is a true testimony to the

country's zeal and fervour in pursuing

capability build-up towards enhanced

maritime security. With the delivery of INS

Vikrant, India has joined a select group of

nations having the niche capability to

indigenously design and build an aircraft

carrier.

The 262-metre-long carrier has a full

displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes

which is much larger and more advanced

than its predecessor. Built at an overall cost

of close to Rs. 20,000 crore, The ship is

powered by four Gas Turbines totalling

88 MW power and has a maximum speed

of 28 knots. It has an overall indigenous

content of 76%. INS Vikrant has been built

with a high degree of automation for

machinery operation, ship navigation and

survivability, and has been designed to

accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing

and rotary aircraft.

The ship would be capable of operating

an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft

comprising of MiG-29K fighter jets,

Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters,

in addition to indigenously manufactured

Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy). Using

a novel aircraft-operation mode known as

STOBAR (Short Take-Off but Arrested

Landing), the IAC is equipped with a skijump for launching aircraft, and a set of

'arrester wires' for their recovery on board.

Several design iterations, including the use

of 3D Virtual Reality models and advanced

engineering software, were used by the

Directorate of Naval Design in shaping the

design of the carrier. CSL had also upgraded

its shipbuilding infrastructure as well as

enhanced productivity skills during the

building of the ship.

Five More Indian Wetlands

Get Ramsar Tag

Five more Indian sites, three from Tamil

Nadu and one each from Mizoram and

Madhya Pradesh, have been recognised as

wetlands of international importance under

the Ramsar Convention, taking the number

of such sites in the country to 54, the Union

Environment Ministry said on July 26, 2022.

The new sites that have made it to the

coveted list are: Karikili Bird Sanctuary,

Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest and

Pichavaram Mangrove in Tamil Nadu,

Sakhya Sagar in Madhya Pradesh and Pala

Wetland in Mizoram. \"The emphasis PM

Shri Narendra Modiji has put on

environmental protection and conservation

has led to a marked improvement in how

India treats its wetlands. Delighted to inform

that 5 more Indian wetlands have got

Ramsar recognition as wetlands of

international importance,\" Union Minister

78 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

of Environment, Forest & Climate Change

Mr. Bhupender Yadav tweeted.

Located in the Kancheepuram district, the

Karikili Bird Sanctuary hosts more than 100

bird species. The Pallikaranai wetland is a

freshwater marsh in Chennai and is located

adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. It is said to

be the only surviving Wetland ecosystem in

the city. Separated from the sea by a sand

bar, Pichavaram is one of the largest

Mangrove forests in India. It is also home

to nearly 180 species. A major tourist spot,

the Sakhya Sagar Lake in Madhya Pradesh's

Shivpuri borders the forests of the Madhav

National Park. Situated in Mizoram's Siaha

district, Pala Lake is fed by water from two

nearby rivers. In the local language, Pala

translates to the \"swallowing lake.\"

The aim of the Ramsar List is to develop

and maintain an international network of

wetlands, which are important for the

conservation of global biological diversity

and for sustaining human life, through the

maintenance of their ecosystem

components, processes and benefits. The

Ramsar Convention is an international treaty

for the conservation and wise use of

wetlands. It is named after the Iranian city

of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea, where the

treaty was signed on February 2, 1971.

Strategic Highway Projects

Near LoC Exempted From

Green Nod

The Ministry of Environment, Forests

and Climate Change notified amendment to

the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)

Rules, exempting highway projects of

strategic and defence importance, which are

100 km from the Line of Control (LoC) or

the Line of Actual Control (LAC) from the

requirement of environmental clearance

before construction. The EIA is a process

of evaluating the likely environmental

impacts of a proposed project or

development. This assessment also takes into

account human health and socioeconomic

impact on the community living in the

proposed project area. In the latest

amendment to the Rules, issued on July 14,

2022, several exemptions to this

environmental clearance have been made.

Thermal power plants up to 15 MW based

on biomass or non-hazardous municipal

solid waste using auxiliary fuel such as coal,

lignite or petroleum products up to 15%

have also been exempted—as long as the

fuel mix is eco-friendly, according to the

notification. “In order to encourage such

activities, the Central Government deems it

necessary to increase the threshold capacity

for such Thermal Power Plants for which

Environmental Clearance shall not be

required,” it stated.

Taking into account issues of livelihood

security of fishermen involved at fish

handling ports and harbours, and the less

pollution potential of these ports and

harbours compared to others, increasing the

threshold of ports which exclusively deal

with fish handling, and cater to small

fishermen, will also be exempted from

environmental clearance, the Ministry stated.

Toll plazas that need more width for

installation of toll collection booths to cater

to a large number of vehicles, and expansion

activities in existing airports related to

terminal building expansion without increase

in the airport’s existing area, rather than

expansion of runways, etc., are two other

projects exempted.

For projects of strategic importance, the

Ministry’s notification says, “Highway

projects related to defence and strategic

importance in border states are sensitive in

nature and in many cases need to be

executed on priority keeping in view

strategic, defence and security considerations.

In this regard, the Central Government

deems it necessary to exempt such projects

from the requirement of Environmental

Clearance in border areas, subject to

specified Standard Operating Procedure

along with standard environmental

safeguards for such projects for selfcompliance by the agency executing such

projects.”

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 79

Eknath Shinde Takes Oath As 20th

CM Of Maharashtra, Devendra

Fadnavis As Deputy CM

Capping off a series of startling political

events spread over 10 days, Mr. Eknath

Sambhaji Shinde, a rebel leader of the then

ruling party Shiv Sena took oath as 20th

Chief Minister of Maharashtra while former

Chief Minister of the state and Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) leader Mr. Devendra

Fadnavis was sworn in as Deputy Chief

Minister. State Governor Mr. Bhagat Singh

Koshyari administered the oath of office to

Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis in a brief

ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai on

June 30, 2022. Mr. Shinde replaced the

incumbent Mr. Uddhav Thackeray who

resigned a day earlier from the post in the

wake of a major rebellion in his party

Shiv Sena that led to the collapse of the

31-month-old Government of Maha Vikas

Aghadi (MVA), a coalition of three parties,

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the

Indian National Congress (INC) being the

other two.

After taking oath, Mr. Shinde said that he

would work for the progress and

development of the state “which had

practically halted since the past two and a

half years of the previous government”.

Earlier, Mr. Shinde, the then Cabinet

Minister of Urban Development and Public

Works (Public Undertakings) in Mr. Uddhav

Thackeray government, led a revolt against

his party and government and garnered

support of at least 40 out of 55 Shiv Sena

legislators, which culminated in him

becoming Chief Minister following an

intense political drama. With 106 MLAs, BJP

is the single largest party in the State

Assembly, but it surprised everyone by

choosing to name Mr. Shinde as Chief

Minister instead of its leader Mr. Fadnavis.

Born on February 9, 1964, Mr. Shinde

has been representing Kopri-Pachpakhadi

constituency in the Assembly since 2004.

In 2014, he became a Cabinet Minister for

the first time in BJP-Shiv Sena government

led by Mr. Fadnavis as Chief Minister. He

is known for floating a medical services cell,

the Balasaheb Thackeray Shiv Sena

Vaidyakeeya Madat Kaksh and setting up its

active branches in all 36 districts of

Maharashtra. This parallel network of health

services played an important role in saving

lives of thousands of people during the

various Covid waves. A native of Dare in

Jawali taluka in Satara district, Mr. Shinde

belongs to Maratha community which might

have been a consideration within BJP for

choosing him as the Chief Minister. After

completion of his 11th standard, he worked

for a chemical company and also drove an

auto-rickshaw to support his family which

then had six members.

India Successfully Flight-tests

Ship-borne Weapon System

VL-SRSAM

The indigenously-developed shipborne

weapon system, Vertical Launch Short

Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM),

was successfully flight-tested by the Defence

Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO) and Indian Navy off the coast of

Chandipur in Odisha on June 24, 2022. The

VL-SRSAM system has been designed to

strike at the high-speed airborne targets at

the range of 40 km to 50 km and at an

altitude of around 15 km. Defence Minister

Mr. Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO and

the Indian Navy on the success of the

mission. “Congratulations to DRDO, Indian

Navy & the industry for the successful flight

test of Vertical Launch Short Range Surfaceto-Air Missile off the coast of Chandipur,

Odisha. This success will further enhance

the defence capability of Indian naval ships

against the aerial threats,” he tweeted.

The VL-SRSAM design is based on Astra

missile which is a Beyond Visual Range

Air-to-Air Missile. Two key features of the

VL-SRSAM are cruciform wings and thrust

vectoring. The key DRDO facilities that

contributed to the development of the

system are Defence Research and

Development Laboratory (DRDL) and

Research Centre Imarat (RCI), both from

Hyderabad, and Research & Development

Establishment (Engineers) based in Pune.

VL-SRSAM is a canisterised system, which

means it is stored and operated from

80 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

specially designed compartments. In the

canister, the inside environment is

controlled, thus making its transport and

storage easier and improving the shelf life

of the weapons.

Railways Flags Off

First Private Train

The Indian Railways’ Southern Railway

Zone began the maiden service of privatelyrun theme-based ‘Bharat Gaurav Train’ from

Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to Sainagar

Shirdi in Maharashtra. The Bharat Gaurav

Train from Coimbatore North to Sainagar

Shirdi commenced its maiden journey on

June 14, 2022 and reached Sainagar Shirdi

on June 16, 2022 with stoppages at Tiruppur,

Erode, Salem, Yelahanka, Dharmavaram,

Mantralayam Road and Wadi. Around 1,100

passengers boarded the maiden round trip

service from Coimbatore to Shirdi. Indian

Railways had launched the operation of

theme-based Bharat Gaurav Trains scheme

in November 2021 in a bid to connect

historical places.

The private service is offered by the

Coimbatore-based registered service

provider South Star Rail which is part of

the conglomerate group Future Gaming &

Hotel Services Pvt. Limited, for an itinerary

consisting of five days and it involves a full

round trip from Coimbatore to Shirdi and

back. The trains under the scheme have one

first- AC coach, three 2-Tier AC coaches

and eight 3-Tier AC coaches along with five

Sleeper Class coaches.

First India-Nepal Bharat

Gaurav Train Flagged Off

After being flagged off from the national

capital, New Delhi, on June 21, 2022, the

inaugural Bharat Gaurav Train, which is the

first tourist train connecting India and Nepal,

arrived in Nepal’s Janakpur on June 23, 2022,

with around 500 tourists from India on

board. Notably, the train connects

destinations associated with Ramayana

Circuit in both countries. The 14-coach train

was flagged off from Delhi’s Safdarjung

railway station by Union Minister of

Tourism and Culture Mr. G. Kishan Reddy,

along with Minister of Railways,

Communications, Electronics and IT

Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Indian Government has launched this

initiative to join all the major places related

to Lord Rama and Sita and thereby develop

the Ramayana Circuit. The Indian Railway

Catering and Tourism Corporation or

IRCTC’s 18-day Shri Ramayana Yatra special

tourist train will carry pilgrims to sacred

places associated with the life of Lord Ram.

As far as the objective of the train is

concerned, it will be operating on the

Ramayana Circuit and will also cover the

religious destinationof Janakpur (Nepal)

for the first time in addition to other popular

destinations including Ayodhya, Nandigram,

Sitamarhi, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot,

Panchvati (Nashik), Hampi, Rameshwaram

and Bhadrachalam. The train is expected to

boost tourism in India and Nepal further.

The train with 3-tier AC Class coaches

has an accommodation capacity of around

600 passengers. The total cost for the first

trip on Ramayana Circuit is around Rs.

62,370 per person for 18 days and is all

inclusive.

Government Announces

Agnipath Scheme For

Recruitment In Armed Forces

In a major defence policy reform that

was expected to usher in a new era in the

human resource induction in the three

services, the Union Government on June

14, 2022 approved a new scheme, called

Agnipath, for recruitment of youth in the

armed forces. Announcing the scheme in

New Delhi with three Service Chiefs,

Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh said

that the youth selected under the scheme to

serve the armed forces will be known as

Agniveer who will be getting attractive

monthly package with Risk & Hardship

allowances applicable to the three services.

The scheme will allow patriotic and

motivated youth to serve in the armed

forces, he said. Under the scheme, over

46,000 Agniveers will be recruited for the

first year in 2022.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 81

Under the scheme, the Agniveers will be

allowed to serve the Indian armed forces

for 4 years. After the completion of 4 years

of service, 25% of the Agniveers will be

selected for the permanent commission

for further 15 years based on merit and

organisation’s needs. The rest will be released

from the armed forces with a good amount

of Seva Nidhi. Agniveer enrolled under the

scheme will be governed by the Army Act

1950. The Agniveers will get a customised

monthly salary package of Rs. 30,000 during

first year, Rs. 33,000 during second year,

Rs. 36,500 during third year and Rs. 40,000

during fourth year. The government has

introduced a corpus fund, named Seva

Nidhi, consisting of 30% of the salary of

the Agniveer and equal amount from the

Government. This entire amount of

Seva Nidhi of Rs. 11.71 lakh will be paid to

the Agniveer at the time of completion of

4 years. Eligibility age for the Agnipath is

17-and-half to 21 years. The upper age limit

for the first 2022 recruitment has been

extended to 23.

ISRO’s New GSAT-24

Satellite Launched

Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO)’s GSAT-24 satellite, built for its

commercial arm NewSpace India Limited

(NSIL), was successfully launched by French

company Arianespace from Kourou in

French Guiana on June 23, 2022. GSAT-24

is a 24-Ku band communication satellite

weighing 4180 kg with pan-India coverage

for meeting DTH application needs. The

entire satellite capacity has been leased to

Tata Play. GSAT-24 is configured on

ISRO’s proven I-3k Bus with a mission life

of 15 years.

It was the first “demand driven”

communication satellite mission undertaken

by NSIL post space sector reforms.

“Demand-driven” mode basically means

when satellite is launched, one will know

who the end customers are going to be.

Earlier, the mode was more “supply driven,”

with capacity being leased after the launch

with largely no firm commitment by

customers before-hand.

NSIL, incorporated in March 2019, is a

Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE),

under the Department of Space. As part of

“space reforms” announced by the

Government in June 2020, NSIL was

mandated to undertake operational satellite

missions on a “demand driven” model.

India’s First Balika Panchayat

Constituted In Four Villages

Of Gujarat

India’s first-ever “Balika Panchayat”, a

panchayat model of the girls, by the girls

and for the girls, commenced operations in

four villages in the Kutchh district of

Gujarat on June 17, 2022. An initiative of

the Women and Child Development Welfare

Department of the Gujarat Government

under the Beti Bachao Bet Padhao campaign,

the first-ever Balika Panchayat model aims

to promote social development of girls and

ensure their active participation in politics.

Kunaria village in the Kutchh district

became the very first village to constitute

and begin Balika Panchayat followed by

villages of Maska, Motagua and Vadsar.

The Balika Panchayat is managed by girls

in the 11-21 year age group and its main

objective is to promote social and political

development of the girl child and to remove

evil practices from the society such as child

marriage and dowry system. It also aims to

encourage girls to move forward in politics

so that they can influence policies in favour

of the womenfolk. Several villages of

Gujarat’s Kutchh district had earlier

conducted elections for the Balika Panchayat.

The NAS 2021: Bridging The

Education Deficit

The National Achievement Survey 2021

(NAS 2021) portrays a disappointing picture

of the state of education in the country.

The Survey, released by the Department of

School Education and Literacy under the

Union Ministry of Education on May 25,

2022, assesses the health of school education

system in the country between 2017, when

the last Survey was held, and 2021 when

the current Survey was conducted in the

month of November 2021. Coincidentally,

82 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

the once-in-a-century pandemic fell in

between the two Surveys, which severely

disrupted the entire education system for

more than two years with profound impacts

on the learning outcomes.

The NAS 2021 shows how serious the

learning losses have been from the

Covid-19 in the entire length and breadth

of the country. It reveals a fall of 9

percentage points in the performance of

students in subjects ranging from

Mathematics to Social Science between 2017

and 2021. The dip has occurred across both

subjects and grades. The NAS 2021 found

that 24% of the students covered by the

Survey did not have access to digital devices

while 38% faced difficulty carrying out

learning activities at home during the

pandemic. As many as 78% of the students

said that they could learn better at schools

with the help of peers.

PM Inaugurates World’s First

Nano Urea (Liquid) Plant

In Gujarat

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

inaugurated the world’s first Nano Urea

(Liquid) Plant constructed by the Indian

Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited

(IFFCO) at Kalol in Gujarat on May 28,

2022. Addressing a seminar of leaders of

various cooperative institutions on “Sahakar

Se Samriddhi” in Gandhinagar, Mr. Modi

said, “With the inauguration of Nano Urea

(Liquid) Plant, the power of a full sack of

urea has come into a half-litre bottle, leading

to huge savings in transportation and

storage.” The plant will produce about 1.5

lakh bottles of 500 ml per day, the Prime

Minister said, adding that 8 more such plants

will be established in the country in the

coming days. “This will reduce foreign

dependence with regard to urea and will

save the country’s money. I am confident

that this innovation will not remain confined

to urea. In future other nano-fertilisers will

be available to our farmers”, he said.

The Nano Urea Liquid is an innovative

product designed at Kalol, Gujarat, at

IFFCO’s Nano Biotechnology Research

Centre (NBRC). Indigenously-created Nano

Urea is a liquid that provides plants essential

Nitrogen, critical for producing amino

acid, pigments, enzymes and genetic

materials in plant. Nano Urea Liquid is a

nanotechnology-based product that has

solved several problems associated with

common agricultural fertilisers. Trials with

Nano Urea were carried out at seven ICAR

research institutes and universities in 2019-

20 as part of the National Agriculture

Research System (NARS). Compared to

traditional nitrogen supplementation

methods, Nano Urea has demonstrated

several advantages.

The Kalol Plant has been constructed at

a cost of around Rs. 175 crore. IFFCO

introduced the first Nano Urea, a

breakthrough solution for the drawbacks

observed while using powdered urea.

Two Indigenously Built

Warships Launched

Defence Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh

launched two indigenously-built warships

‘Surat’ and ‘Udaygiri’ at the Mazagon Docks

in Mumbai on May 17, 2022, and said that

this will “add might” to the Navy’s arsenal

and represent India’s strategic strength

before the world. This is the first time that

two indigenously built warships were

launched concurrently, the Mazagon Dock

Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) said. The ‘Surat’, a

guided missile destroyer, and ‘Udaygiri’, a

stealth frigate, were designed in-house by

the Directorate of Naval Design (DND)

and built at the Mumbai-based MDL, a

premiership and submarine building defence

public sector undertaking. The launch of

the warships marks the commencement of

the next phase involving extensive outfitting

activities by the shipyards readying these

vessels for delivery.

According to the Indian Navy, ‘Surat’ is

the fourth ship of Project 15B Destroyers,

which heralds a significant makeover of the

P15A (Kolkata Class) destroyers, and is

named after the commercial capital of

Gujarat and also the second-largest

commercial hub of western India after

Mumbai. The Project 15B Class of ships is

the Navy’s next-generation stealth-guided

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 83

missile destroyers being built at the MDL.

Seven P17A Frigates are under various stages

of construction at the MDL and Garden

Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).

‘Udaygiri’, named after a mountain range

in Andhra Pradesh, is the third ship of

Project 17A Frigates. P17A Frigates are

warships that are a follow-on class of the

P17 (Shivalik Class) Frigates with improved

stealth features, advanced weapons, sensors,

and platform management systems, the Navy

said. The new warship is the reincarnation

of the erstwhile ‘Udaygiri’, the Leander Class

ASW Frigate, which saw numerous

challenging operations in its illustrious

service to the country, spanning over three

decades from February 1976 to August 2007.

Extended Range Version Of

BrahMos Missile Successfully

Launched

India successfully carried out a maiden

launch of the Extended Range Version of

BrahMos Air Launched missile from

Sukhoi-30 or Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft on

May 12, 2022. The missile set off from the

Indian Air Force’s frontline fighter, achieving

a direct hit on a target located in the Bay of

Bengal. While the Air Launched version of

the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile has

been tested multiple times in the recent past,

the latest was the first of the Extended

Range Version, which is said to have

capability of striking the targets located

350 kilometres away compared to around

290 kilometres in the initial version.

“The launch from the aircraft was as

planned and the missile achieved a direct hit

on the designated target in the Bay of Bengal

region. It was the first launch of an Extended

Range version of BrahMos missile from Su30 MKI aircraft,” said a statement from the

Ministry of Defence. With this, the IAF has

achieved the capability to carry out precision

strikes from Su-30MKI aircraft against a

land/sea target over very long ranges. The

dedicated and synergetic efforts of the IAF,

Indian Navy, DRDO (Defence Research and

Development Organisation), BAPL

(BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd) and HAL

(Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.) have proven

the capability of the nation to achieve this

feat. “The extended range capability of the

missile coupled with the high performance

of the Su-30MKI aircraft gives the IAF a

strategic reach and allows it to dominate the

future battle fields,” it added.

First test of the initial version of the

BrahMos Air Launched Cruise Missile was

conducted in 2017, making it a significant

addition to the IAF’s operational capabilities

from stand-off ranges. For the firing of

BrahMos from Sukhoi-30 MKI, the missile

is gravity dropped from the fuselage of the

fighter jet, and the two-stage missile’s engine

is then fired up and it propels towards the

intended target. BrahMos is the heaviest

weapon to be deployed on India’s Sukhoi30 MKI fighter aircraft, which has been

modified by HAL to carry these weapon

systems. A combination of the names of

Brahmaputra and Moskva (in Russia) rivers,

BrahMos missiles are designed, developed

and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a

joint venture company set up by DRDO

and Mashinostroyenia of Russia.

Manik Saha Takes Oath As 11th

Chief Minister Of Tripura

The state chief of Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP), Mr. Manik Saha, took oath as the

new Chief Minister of Tripura, becoming

the 11th Chief Minister of the northeastern

state. He replaced the incumbent Mr. Biplab

Kumar Deb who tendered his resignation

after he was advised to do so by the central

leadership. The BJP decided for leadership

change in the state a year ahead of the

Assembly elections likely to be held in March

2023. Mr. Saha was administered the oath

of office and secrecy by the State Governor

Mr. Satyadeo Narain Rao at the Raj Bhavan

in Agartala on May 15, 2022. The BJP

legislature party meeting had elected

Mr. Saha as the leader of the legislature party

on May 14, 2022 in the presence of central

observers. Mr. Deb had become the Chief

Minister of Tripura in 2018 when BJP

stormed to power in the State Assembly

elections, ending 25-year-rule of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the

state.

84 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

Mr. Saha, a dental surgeon, was born in

Tripura’s capital Agartala in 1953. He was

educated at the Government Dental College,

Patna and King Georges’ Medical University,

Lucknow. He joined BJP in 2016 after

quitting Congress. He was made party chief

in the state in 2020 and elected to Rajya

Sabha in March 2022. He is also a professor

at the Tripura Medical College and

B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital

in Agartala. He also heads the Tripura

Cricket Association. Father of two

daughters, Mr. Saha, has to be elected to

the State Assembly within the next six

months after reliquishing his Rajya Sabha

membership. Next, he is expected to steer

the party to victory in the ensuing Assembly

polls.

Anti-Tank Guided Missile

HELINA Successfully

Flight-tested

Indigenously-developed helicopter-borne

Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM)

‘HELINA’ was successfully flight-tested at

high-altitude ranges in Pokhran, Rajasthan.

The test was part of user validation trials

of third generation ‘fire and forget’ class

missiles developed by the Defence and

Development Organisation (DRDO). The

flight-test was jointly conducted on April

11, 2022 by the teams of scientists from

DRDO, Indian Army and Indian Air Force

(IAF). The flight trials were conducted from

an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) and

the missile was fired successfully engaging

simulated tank target. The missile is guided

by an Imaging Infra-Red (IIR) Seeker

operating in the Lock on Before Launch

mode. It is one of the most advanced antitank weapons in the world. In continuation

to validation trials conducted at Pokhran,

proof of efficacy at high altitudes paves the

way for its integration on the ALH.

HELINA has a maximum range of 7 km

and has been designed and developed for

integration on weaponised version of ALH.

It has been developed at DRDO’s Defence

Research and Development Laboratory

(DRDL), Hyderabad, under the Missiles and

Strategic Systems (MSS) cluster of DRDO.

Successful user trials of the missile have

been conducted since 2018. HELINA

missile system has all-weather, day and night

capability. It can defeat battle tanks with

conventional armour as well as explosivesreactive armour.

Extreme Poverty Levels In

India Decline, Suggest IMF &

WB Studies

Two working papers from the World Bank

and International Monetary Fund (IMF)

almost simultaneously reached to the

conclusion that India has been successful in

eliminating or keeping low the extreme

poverty of its citizens. The papers by the

World Bank and IMF are a significant

indicator of India’s poverty levels as the

country itself has no recent official

estimation. The last expenditure survey of

India’s poverty and inequality was conducted

in 2011 by the National Sample Survey

Organisation.

A new working paper by the IMF, titled

‘Pandemic, Poverty & Inequality: Evidence

from India’, observed that the country has

almost eradicated extreme poverty—defined

as living on $1.9 (Rs. 144.19) or less in

purchasing power parity (PPP) terms—and

brought down consumption inequality to its

lowest levels in 40 years through stateprovided food handouts. The paper,

authored by economists Mr. Surjit Bhalla,

Mr. Karan Bhasin and Mr. Arvind Virmani,

says that India has managed to keep extreme

poverty as low as 0.8% in 2019 and

continued to maintain that in 2020 during

the Covid-19 pandemic. This was done by

making food transfers through the Pradhan

Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY),

according to the paper published on

April 5, 2022.

The paper suggests that the post-food

subsidy, the real inequality, as measured by

the Gini coefficient (which ranges from

0 to 1, with 0 representing perfect equality

and 1 representing perfect inequality), at

0.294 is now at its lowest level compared to

0.284 observed in 1993-94. While making a

comparison between the poverty and

consumption inequality in India between

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 85

2004-05 and 2020-21, the paper suggests,

“These estimates include, for the first time,

the effect of in-kind food subsidies on

poverty and inequality.” The effective

scheme of food transfers was apparently

the most appropriate thing to do in

pandemic-induced poverty-like situations,

the paper says.

Meanwhile, another working paper by the

World Bank, published on April 18, 2022

found that India’s extreme poverty declined

by 12.3% in 2019 from 2011. Rural poverty

declined from 26.3% in 2011 to 11.6% in

2019 while the decline in urban areas was

from 14.2% to 6.3% in the same period. To

sum up, the poverty level in rural and urban

areas went down by 14.7 and 7.9 percentage

points, respectively, it said. The paper, titled

“Poverty In India Has Declined Over The

Last Decade But Not As Much As

Previously Thought”, jointly authored by

Ms. Sutirtha Sinha Roy and Mr. Roy van der

Weide, also said the poverty head count in

the country has dropped from 22.5% in

2011 to 10.2% in 2019 with rural areas

showing better results. The study noted that

farmers with small landholdings have seen

higher growth. It said: “Real incomes for

farmers with the smallest landholdings have

grown by 10% in annualised terms between

the two survey rounds (2013 and 2019)

compared to a 2% growth for farmers with

the largest landholding.”

IndiGo Becomes First Asian

Airlines To Land Aircraft Using

GAGAN

The Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo

became the first airline to land its aircraft

using the space-based air navigation system

GAGAN. On April 28, 2022, the Airports

Authority of India (AAI) announced that

IndiGo ATR 72-600 twin-engine turboprop

(registered VT-IXW) performed a flight trial

during which the plane tested GAGAN, the

indigenously-developed air navigation

service, which provides lateral and vertical

guidance when the plane is approaching a

runway for landing. The flight test took

place at the regional Kishangarh Airport

(KQH), in Rajasthan, IndiGo wrote in its

statement on social media. “For the first

time in the history of the Indian aviation

industry, IndiGo has successfully completed

an LPV (Localiser Performance with Vertical

Guidance) approach on its ATR aircraft

using the indigenous GAGAN Satellite to

land at Kishangarh Airport,” the statement

reads.

GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation

(GAGAN), an indigenously developed Space

Based Augmentation System (SBAS), jointly

developed by Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) and AAI would

provide lateral and vertical guidance on an

approach, approximating the accuracy of a

Category I ILS. GAGAN is designed to

provide the additional accuracy, availability

and integrity necessary to enable users to

rely on GPS for all phases of flight for all

qualified airports within the GAGAN

service volume. GAGAN will also provide

the capability for increased accuracy in

position reporting, allowing for more

uniform and high-quality Air Traffic

Management (ATM). GAGAN is also

intended to assist other modes of

transportation, namely sea, rail or road. The

government-backed $100 million worth

project was launched in 2011.

Anti-ship Version Of BrahMos

Missile Successfully Test-fired

An anti-ship version of the BrahMos

supersonic cruise missile was successfully

test-fired jointly by the Indian Navy and the

Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC).

In a tweet, the ANC said that the test-firing

was carried out on April 27, 2022. The

Andaman and Nicobar Command is the only

tri-services command of the Indian armed

forces. “#IndianNavy& #ANC yet again

demonstrate #CombatReadiness by

successfully destroying target at sea through

#AntiShip version of #BrahMos at A&N

Islands on 27 Apr,” it said.

Earlier, the Indian Air Force (IAF)

successfully test-fired the BrahMos missile

from a Sukhoi fighter jet on the Eastern

seaboard. In March 2022, an advanced

version of the BrahMos missile was

successfully test-fired by the Indian Navy

86 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

from a stealth destroyer in the Indian Ocean.

BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint

venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles

that can be launched from submarines, ships,

aircraft, or land platforms. BrahMos missile

flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three

times the speed of sound. The range of the

advanced version of the missile is learnt to

have been extended to around 350 km from

the original 290 km.

Palli Becomes India’s First

Carbon Neutral Panchayat

The nondescript hamlet of Palli in Jammu

and Kashmir’s border district of Samba

became the country’s first ‘carbon-neutral

panchayat’ with Prime Minister Mr.

Narendra Modi dedicating to the nation a

500 kilowatt solar plant, installed in a record

time of nearly three weeks. The Prime

Minister said that Palli has shown the way

to the country by becoming carbon neutral.

During his visit to J&K on April 24, 2022,

the first by him after the abrogation of

Article 370 in 2019, Prime Minister

inaugurated and laid foundation stones of

several projects worth around Rs. 20,000

crore for the Union Territor y. These

included the opening of the BanihalQazigund road tunnel to establish allweather connectivity between the two

regions.

In Palli, all 1,500 solar panels put up in

a total area of 6,408 square metres

will provide clean electricity to 340 houses

in the model Panchayat under the

Central Government’s Gram Urja Swaraj

programme. From the macadamised roads

to the recently launched electric bus service,

the village located just 17 km from the

winter capital Jammu is witnessing a major

transformation with an upgraded Panchayat

Ghar, renovated government high school

building, a new pond and improved

playfields and electric bus ride. The solar

project was completed at a cost of Rs. 2.75

crore in a record time. The electricity

generated will be distributed to the village,

having a daily requirement of 2,000 units,

through the local power grid station. Village

has LED bulbs, solar cookers and solar

stoves. For irrigation too, 10 solar pumps

have been installed and 40 more will be

installed in the next phase.

Unique Pradhan Mantri

Sangrahalaya Inaugurated

Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi

inaugurated a state-of-the-art museum

dedicated to former Prime Ministers of the

country on April 14, 2020 in New Delhi

and even bought the first ticket to the

“Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya”. The

Sangrahalaya is located in Teen Murti

Complex in New Delhi and is dedicated to

the contributions of all 14 past Prime

Ministers of India since Independence. The

museum sheds light on the leaders’ political

career, their contribution to the country and

also takes visitors through the country’s

history including the freedom struggle. The

museum also commemorates 75 years of

India’s Independence as a part of the “Azadi

Ka Amrit Mahotsav” celebrations.

The Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya is

aimed at sensitising and educating the

younger generation about the leadership,

vision and achievements of all our Prime

Ministers. Irrespective of the ideologies of

the Prime Ministers, their contribution has

been showcased without any prejudice. The

museum employs brilliant infrastructure and

innovative technology to take visitors

through the lives, speeches, personal items

and memorabilia of the former PMs.

Holograms, virtual reality, augmented reality,

multi-touch, multi-media, interactive kiosks,

computerised kinetic sculptures, smartphone

applications and interactive screens have

been used to make the Pradhan Mantri

Sangrahalaya highly interactive.

President Gives Assent

To Criminal Procedure

(Identification) Bill

Hon’ble President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind

gave his assent to the Criminal Procedure

(Identification) Bill 2022 on April 18, 2022

to make it an Act. The Bill was passed by

the Rajya Sabha on April 6, 2022 while Lok

Sabha had passed the Bill earlier on April 4,

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 87

2022. The new Criminal Procedure

(Identification) Act 2022 provides sweeping

powers to police to collect biometric samples

and physical measurements such as iris and

retina scan, physical samples and behavioural

attributes including handwriting and

signatures of all detainees. It repealed the

Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, which

was limited to allowing collection of finger

and footprint impressions and photographs

for a limited category of convicted and

non-convicted persons on the order of a

magistrate.

Apart from providing legal sanction to

police to obtain physical and biological

samples of convicts and detainees for

investigation in criminal matters, the

legislation also empowers a magistrate to

order measurements or photographs of a

person to be taken to aid the investigation

of an offence. Section 2(1)(b) of the Bill

defines “measurements” to include finger

impressions, palm-print impressions,

footprint impressions, photographs, iris and

retina scans, physical and biological samples

and their analysis, behavioural attributes

including signatures and handwriting, or any

other examination referred to in Section 53

or Section 53A of the Code of Criminal

Procedure (CrPC), 1973. Section 53 relates

to the medical examination of a person

arrested. Resistance to or refusal to allow

the taking of measurements under this Act

shall be deemed to be an offence under

section 186 of the Indian Penal Code.

India, Australia Ink Historic

Trade Pact; ‘Watershed

Moment’, Says PM

Taking their ties to an all-time high level,

India and Australia on April 2, 2022 signed

a historic far-reaching and most

comprehensive economic cooperation and

trade deal under which Canberra would

provide duty-free access in its market for

over 95% of Indian goods such as textiles,

leather, jewellery and sports products. The

new pact also removed tariffs on more than

85% of Australian goods exports to India.

The India-Australia Economic

Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus

ECTA) was inked by Commerce and

Industry Minister Mr. Piyush Goyal and

Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and

Investment Mr. Dan Tehan in a virtual

ceremony, in the presence of Prime Minister

Mr. Narendra Modi and his Australian

counterpart Mr. Scott Morrison. Mr. Modi

described the signing of the mega deal as

“truly a watershed moment” for IndiaAustralia relations while Mr. Morrison added

that the pact will further deepen Australia’s

close ties with India. The agreement will

help in taking bilateral trade between the

two countries from $27 billion to $45-50

billion in the next five years.

Australia is offering zero duty access to

India for about 96.4% of exports (by value)

from day one. This covers many products

which currently attract 4-5% customs duty

in Australia. Labour intensive sectors which

would gain immensely from this deal include

textiles and apparel, few agricultural and fish

products, leather, footwear, furniture, sports

goods, jewellery, machinery, electrical goods

and railway wagons.

Australia is the 17th largest trading partner

of India, while New Delhi is Canberra’s 9th

largest partner. Bilateral trade in goods and

services stood at $27.5 billion in 2021. India’s

goods exports were worth $6.9 billion and

imports aggregated to $15.1 billion in 2021.

Imports mainly include raw materials, coal,

minerals and intermediate goods.

In what is being viewed as a win-win deal

for both the countries, the deal is said to go

a long way in “breaking the trade barriers.”

Australia has announced new initiatives to

the tune of $282 million as part of the deal.

Soon after the deal was signed, Mr. Piyush

Goyal tweeted: “After the momentous IndiaUAE CEPA, India & Australia walk the talk

and sign the historic Economic Cooperation

and Trade Agreement. We are opening new

gateways for our businesses and people to

take the fast-lane to greater prosperity.” It is

to be noted that in February 2022, India

and the UAE also signed a comprehensive

Free Trade Agreement, which will

immediately eliminate duties for 90% of

India’s exports to the UAE. The IndAus

ECTA agreement will be notified to

88 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

the World Trade Organization, indicating it

has the legal status of a full free trade deal.

Maternal Mortality Rate

Declines By 10 Points

In a significant achievement, India’s

Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has

declined by 10 points as per the Special

Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar

General of India on March 14, 2022. The

ratio has declined from 113 in 2016-18 to

103 in 2017-19, showing a 8.8% decline.

MMR, a key health system indicator, is the

number of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live

births during a given period. India’s MMR

was about 556 in 1990 and 254 in 2004-06.

The country has been witnessing a

progressive reduction in MMR from 130 in

2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18,

and to 103 in 2017-19. With this persistent

decline, India is on the verge of achieving

National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100/

lakh live births by 2020 and certainly on

track to achieve the Sustainable

Development Goal (SDG) target of 70/lakh

live births by 2030.

The number of states which have

achieved the SDG target has now risen from

5 to 7—namely Kerala (30), Maharashtra

(38), Telangana (56), Tamil Nadu (58),

Andhra Pradesh (58), Jharkhand (61) and

Gujarat (70). There are now 9 States that

have achieved the target of MMR set by the

NHP, which include the above 7 and the

States of Karnataka (83) and Haryana (96).

Six states—Uttarakhand (101), West Bengal

(109), Punjab (114), Bihar (130), Odisha

(136) and Rajasthan (141)—have MMR in

between 100-150, while for 4 states, namely

Chhattisgarh (160), Madhya Pradesh (163),

Uttar Pradesh (167) and Assam (205) have

MMR above 150.

Encouraging achievement has been

reported by Uttar Pradesh, which has shown

the maximum decline of 30 points, followed

by Rajasthan (23 points), Bihar (19 points)

Punjab (15 points) and Odisha (14 points).

Remarkably, three states (Kerala,

Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh) have shown

more than 15% decline in MMR, while

6 states namely, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar,

Punjab, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh have

shown a decline between 10-15%. Four

states, namely Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,

Odisha and Karnataka, witnessed a decline

between 5-10%.

On the other hand, four states, namely

West Bengal, Haryana, Uttarakhand and

Chhattisgarh have shown an increase in

MMR and hence will need to reappraise their

strategy and intensify their efforts to

accelerate the MMR decline to achieve the

SDG target.

Railways Tests Indigenous

‘Kavach’

Indian Railways carried out successful

testing of the indigenous train collision

protection system, called Kavach, on South

Central (SC) Railways on March 4, 2022.

Two locomotives, one carrying the Railway

Minister Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw and another

with the Railway Board Chairman Mr. V.K.

Tripathi, raced towards each other on the

same track, but thanks to the breaks

automatically applied by the newlydeveloped system, stopped 200 metres apart,

avoiding a collision. The system is already

operational between Lingampally and

Vikarabad lines on the SC Railway. The

Union Budget 2022-23 proposes aggressive

rollout of Kavach on 2,000 km tracks in

2022-23.

Kavach is India’s very own automatic

protection system in development since

2012, under the name Train Collision

Avoidance System (TCAS), which got

rechristened to Kavach or armour. It is a

set of electronic devices and Radio

Frequency Identification devices installed in

locomotives, in the signalling system as well

the tracks, that talk to each other using ultra

high radio frequencies to control the brakes

of trains and also alert drivers, all based on

the logic programmed into them. One of

its features is that by continuously refreshing

the movement information of a train, it is

able to send out triggers when a loco

pilot jumps signal, called Signal Passed at

Danger (SPAD), a grave offence in railway

operations with respect to safety, and the

key to accidents like collision. The devices

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 89

also continuously relay the signals ahead to

the locomotive, making it useful for loco

pilots in low visibility, especially during dense

fog.

The TCAS or Kavach includes the key

elements from already existing, and tried and

tested systems like the European Train

Protection and Warning System, and the

indigenous Anti- Collision Device. It will

also carr y features of the high-tech

European Train Control System Level-2 in

future. The current form of Kavach adheres

to the highest level of safety and reliability

standard called ‘Safety Integrity Level 4.’

Government Notifies

Green Hydrogen Policy

In a significant step towards India’s “green

future”, the Union Ministry of Power on

February 17, 2022 notified National Policy

for Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia,

featuring incentives like a free transmission

for 25 years to boost production of this

clean source of energy. As part of the

National Hydrogen Mission (NHM), the

policy “aims to aid the government in

meeting its climate targets and making India

a green hydrogen hub. This will help in

meeting the target of producing 5 million

tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030 and the

related development of renewable energy

capacity,” the Ministry said in a statement.

The implementation of the policy will

provide clean fuel to the common man of

the country, it added. This will reduce

dependence on fossil fuel and also reduce

crude oil imports. The objective of the

policy is also to make our country an export

hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia.

As per the policy, Green Hydrogen/

Green Ammonia shall be defined as

Hydrogen/Ammonia produced by way of

electrolysis of water using renewable energy

and the Hydrogen/Ammonia produced

from biomass. Companies will have the

liberty to set up capacity to generate

electricity from renewable sources such as

solar or wind anywhere in the country, by

themselves or through a developer. The

waiver of inter-state transmission charges

shall be granted for a period of 25 years to

the producers of Green Hydrogen and

Green Ammonia from the projects

commissioned before June 30, 2025. The

government will also allow banking (storage)

of excess green hydrogen produced by any

company for up to 30 days, in case of

capacities which are set up before 2025.

The policy says that land in Renewable

Energy Parks can be allotted for the

manufacture of Green Hydrogen/Green

Ammonia. The government proposes to set

up manufacturing zones. Green Hydrogen/

Green Ammonia production plants can be

set up in any of the manufacturing zones.

The manufacturers of Green Hydrogen/

Green Ammonia shall be allowed to set up

bunkers near ports for storage of Green

Ammonia for export/use. The country

currently consumes around 6 million tonnes

of hydrogen annually and the government

is looking for ways to increase the

penetration of domestic green hydrogen in

industries which otherwise import natural

gas and ammonia to produce hydrogen.

ISRO Launches

PSLV C-52 Rocket

The Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) successfully launched its PSLV C-52

rocket, carrying earth observation satellite

EOS-04 along with two co-passenger pay

loads, lifted off from the spaceport in

Sriharikota early on February 14, 2022. The

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52)

blasted off at 05:59 a.m. from a launch pad

of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota,

at the end of a 25-hour countdown, marking

the space agency’s first mission launch in

2022. The launch also happens to be the first

mission after Mr. S. Somanath took over as

the Chairman of ISRO.

Besides EOS-04, the rocket also carried

two small satellites, INSPIREsat-1 and INS2TD, as co-passengers. The important flight

events—stage and strap-on ignitions, heat

shield separation, stages and strap-on

separation and satellite injection—took place

exactly as planned, said ISRO. After a flight

of about 17 minutes and 34 seconds, the

three satellites were injected successfully

90 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

the India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B).

With a mass of 17.5 kg, it has a mission life

of 6 months. Having a thermal imaging

camera as its payload, the satellite benefits

the assessment of land surface temperature,

water surface temperature of wetland or

lakes, delineation of vegetation (crops and

forest) and thermal inertia (day and night).

Government Launches

SMILE Scheme

The Union Government launched a new

welfare scheme ‘Support for Marginalised

Individuals for Livelihood & Enterprise

(SMILE) 2022’ for transgender community

and people engaged in the act of begging.

Launched on February 12, 2022, the scheme

strengthens and expands the reach of the

rights that give the targeted group the

necessary legal protection and a promise to

a secured life. With an allocation of Rs. 365

crore for five years from 2021-22 to

2025-26, it keeps in mind the social

security that is needed through multiple

into a Sun-synchronous polar orbit of 529

km, and the orbit achieved for the satellites

was “very close” to the intended orbits.

EOS-04, weighing 1,710 kg and with a

mission life of 10 years, is a Radar Imaging

Satellite designed to provide high-quality

images under all weather conditions for

applications such as Agriculture, Forestry

and Plantations, Soil Moisture and

Hydrology and Flood Mapping. The satellite,

realised at U.R. Rao Satellite Centre,

Bengaluru, generates 2,280 W power.

INSPIREsat-1 is from Indian Institute of

Space Science and Technology (IIST) which

developed it in association with Laboratory

of Atmospheric and Space Physics at

University of Colorado Boulder. Two

scientific payloads on INSPIREsat-1, with

a mass of 8.1 kg and mission life of one

year, are aimed at improving the

understanding of ionosphere dynamics and

the Sun’s coronal heating processes.

INS-2TD is a technology demonstrator

satellite from ISRO. This is a precursor to

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 91

dimensions of identity, medical care,

education, occupational opportunities and

shelter. Union Minister for Social Justice and

Empowerment Mr. Virendra Kumar said,

“The Ministry has ensured that each and

every need of transgender community and

persons engaged in begging are taken care

of in most professional way.”

As an umbrella scheme, the SMILE

comprises two sub-schemes. The first,

Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive

Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender

Persons, includes various components such

as scholarships for transgender students

starting from Class 9th to post-graduation.

It also has provisions for Skill Development

and Livelihood under the PM-DAKSH

scheme. Through Composite Medical

Health, it provides a comprehensive package

in convergence with PM-JAY, supporting

Gender-Reaffirmation surgeries through

selected hospitals. Similarly, the Housing

facility in the form of ‘Garima Grih’ ensures

food, clothing, recreational facilities, skill

development opportunities, recreational

activities, and medical support. It also has

provision for setting up a Transgender

Protection Cell in each state to monitor

offences against the persons from the

community.

Big Rise In Green Cover Of

India, Reveals ISFR 2021

India’s green cover has touched nearly

one-fourth of its geographical area with

“forests” and “trees outside recorded forest

areas” put together recording an increase

of 2,261 sq. km. (0.3%) in 2021 compared

to the previous assessment in 2019, shows

the latest India State of Forest Report

(ISFR 2021) released on January 13, 2022.

The total green (forests and trees) cover

has now reached 8,09,537 sq. km. (24.6%

of geographical area), which includes

7,13,789 sq. km. of forest cover—21.7%

of the area. Overall, forest cover has

recorded an increase of 1,540 sq. km. (0.2%)

while tree cover increased by 721 sq. km.

(0.8%) in the past two years.

The top three States showing an

increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh

(647 sq. km.), Telangana (632 sq. km.) and

Odisha (537 sq. km.). Area-wise, Madhya

Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the

country followed by Arunachal Pradesh,

Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra. In

terms of forest cover as percentage of total

geographical area, the top five States are

Mizoram (84.5%), Arunachal Pradesh

(79.3%), Meghalaya (76%), Manipur (74.3%)

and Nagaland (73.9%).

ISFR 2021 shows that five States/UTs—

Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman &

Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and

Meghalaya—have more than 75% forest

cover while 12 States/UTs—Manipur,

Nagaland, Tripura, Goa, Kerala, Sikkim,

Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar

Haveli and Daman & Diu, Assam, Odisha—

have forest cover between 33% and 75%.

The latest assessment also shows an

increase of 17 sq. km. in total mangrove

cover (4,992 sq. km. in 2021) in the country

as compared to the previous assessment.

The top three States showing mangrove

cover increase are Odisha (8 sq. km.),

Maharashtra (4 sq. km.) and Karnataka

(3 sq. km.).

Army Unveils New Combat

Uniform

Keeping pace with the fast-changing

nature of modern warfare, the Indian Army

has opted for a new Combat Uniform that

is comfortable, climate- friendly and features

a digital disruptive pattern. The new uniform

was unveiled when the elite commandos of

the Parachute Regiment donned it for the

first time on January 15, 2022 during the

Army Day parade that was conducted at

Cariappa Ground in New Delhi in the

presence of Army Chief General M.M.

Naravane. The all-weather-friendly uniform

could provide camouflage to the soldiers in

all kinds of terrains and battlefields. The

Army uniform is formally known as Battle

Dress Uniforms (BDU).

92 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

The new uniform, which features a mix

of colours including olive and earthen, has

been designed taking into consideration

aspects like areas of deployment of the

troops and climatic conditions in which they

operate. The new uniform has been designed

after analysing combat uniforms of armies

of various other countries, in association

with National Institute of Fashion

Technology. This uniform is more

comfortable and it would be worn in all

types of terrains. The digital disruptive

pattern is designed with the help of

computer. A major feature of the new

uniform is that the shirt in the uniform does

not have to be tucked in the trousers while

the shirt in the old uniform had to be tucked

in. The new uniforms would not be available

in the open market.

December 26 To Be Observed

As ‘Veer Baal Diwas’

December 26 will be observed as Veer

Baal Diwas every year from 2022 onwards

as a tribute to the bravery and martyrdom

of Guru Gobind Singh’s sons, Prime

Minister Mr. Narendra Modi announced on

January 8, 2022 on the occasion of the 365th

birth anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru.

“Today, on the auspicious occasion of

the Parkash Parab of Sri Guru Gobind

Singh Ji, I am honoured to share that starting

this year, 26th December shall be marked

as ‘Veer Baal Diwas’. This is a fitting tribute

to the courage of the Sahibzades and their

quest for justice,” Mr. Modi tweeted. The

Sahibzades, as the four sons of Guru

Gobind Singh are called, preferred death

instead of renouncing their faith, he added.

“The bravery and ideals of Mata Gujri,

Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the 4

Sahibzades give strength to millions of

people. They never bowed to injustice. They

envisioned a world that is inclusive and

harmonious. It is the need of the hour for

more people to know about them,” he said

in another tweet.

“‘Veer Baal Diwas will be on the same

day when Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and

Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji attained martyrdom

after being sealed alive in a wall. These two

greats preferred death instead of deviating

from the noble principles of Dharma,”

Mr. Modi said in yet another tweet.

Poll Expenses Limit Increased

Citing a Union Law Ministry notification,

the Election Commission of India (ECI)

announced a hike in maximum election

expenditure limit for candidates on

January 6, 2022. For Lok Sabha polls, the

revised expenditure limit is now Rs. 95 lakh

for bigger States and Rs. 75 lakh for smaller

States. Earlier, the limit was Rs. 70 lakh for

bigger States and Rs. 54 lakh for smaller

States. For Assembly elections, the revised

poll expenditure limit for candidates is Rs. 40

lakh for big States, up from Rs. 28 lakh.

Candidates in smaller States can now

spend a maximum of Rs. 28 lakh instead of

Rs. 20 lakh. The Union Government

took the decision on the basis of ECI

recommendation.

The new expenditure limits will be

applicable in all upcoming polls, the ECI

said. Candidates in Uttar Pradesh,

Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur can

now go for increased poll expenditure. For

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand, the

expenditure limit for Assembly polls is now

Rs. 40 lakh. For Goa and Manipur, it is now

Rs. 28 lakh, according to the notification.

For rallies and events of star campaigners,

the expenditure is borne by parties.

Last major revision in the election

expenditure limit for candidates was done

in 2014, which was further increased by

10% in 2020 as an interim measure.

Simultaneously, the Election Commission

formed a committee to study the cost factors

and other related issues before making

suitable recommendations. The committee

had invited suggestions from political

parties, chief electoral officers and election

observers. The committee found that there

has been increase in the number of electors

and Cost Inflation Index (CII) since 2014

substantially, the ECI said in a statement. o

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023 93

WORLD

Historical Deal Struck At COP15

To Halt Biodiversity Loss By 2030

Governments from across the world

reached a consensus and signed a once-in-adecade global deal to protect 30% of the

world’s land and seas by 2030 and provide

critical financing to the developing world to

protect biodiversity. As the United Nations

Biodiversity Summit of COP15 in Montreal,

Canada, came to an end on December 19,

2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global

Biodiversity Framework (GBF), reflecting the

joint leadership of China and Canada, was

the culmination of four years of work

towards creating an agreement to guide global

conservation efforts through 2030. The deal

was reached after China, the President of

the COP15, released a proposed text that

Ministers welcomed with some reservations.

The GBF features 23 targets to be achieved

by 2030. The deal lays out support for

protecting 30% of land and waters by 2030,

a landmark goal informally known as 30-by30, and suggests restoring 30% of degraded

lands. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 8%

of marine areas are under protection. The

Framework calls for mobilising at least $200

billion annually from public and private

sources for biodiversity-related funding.

International financial flows from the

developed to the developing countries will

be raised to at least $30 billion per year. The

other targets include reduction to near zero

the loss of areas of high biodiversity

importance and high ecological integrity,

halving global food waste and phasing out or

reforming subsidies that harm biodiversity

by at least $500 billion per year while scaling

up positive incentives for biodiversity

conservation and sustainable use.

While policymakers hope that the

ambitious deal can spur nature conservation

in the same way as the Paris Climate

Agreement 2015 helped mobilise efforts to

limit planet-warming carbon emissions,

environmental campaigners worry the

technical wording of the 30-by-30 target

might not adequately address ocean

conservation.

India, Germany Sign Migration

& Mobility Partnership

Agreement

India and Germany signed an agreement

on Comprehensive Migration & Mobility

Partnership (CMMPA), to facilitate mobility

and employment opportunities for fostering

the exchange of skills and talents. Indian

External Affairs Minister Mr. S. Jaishankar

signed the agreement with his German

counterpart Ms. Annalena Baerbock in New

Delhi on December 5, 2022. The agreement

includes the Academic Evaluation Centre in

New Delhi, 18 months extended residence

permits to students, 3,000 job-seeker visas

annually, liberalised short stay multiple entry

visas and streamlined readmission procedures,

according to a statement by the Ministry of

External Affairs. In addition, the agreement

will institutionalise a joint working group for

further strengthening cooperation in

Migration and Mobility.

The India-Germany CMMPA is part of

overall efforts to establish a network of

agreements with prospective labour market

destinations. It demonstrates India’s rapidly

expanding multi-faceted strategic ties with

Germany. “The India-Germany CMMPA is

part of overall efforts to create a network of

agreements with prospective labour market

destination countries with twin objectives of

creating favourable visa regime for Indians

towards accessing the labour market of these

countries,” the Ministry said. Notably, the

German Skilled Immigration Act 2020 has

enhanced the opportunities for workers from

non-European Union countries. Through a

new law set to be adopted in early 2023, the

German government proposes to facilitate

the immigration of qualified workers from

abroad, the Ministry noted.

India, China Troops Clash

Along LAC In Tawang,

Arunachal Pradesh

Indian and Chinese troops clashed along

the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the

Tawang Sector of Arunachal Pradesh on

December 9, 2022 and the face off resulted

94 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TODAY, FEBRUARY 2023

in “minor injuries to a few personnel from

both sides”. The clash near Yangtse, about

25 km from Tawang, along the LAC in the

sensitive sector took place amid the over

30-month border standoff between the two

sides in eastern Ladakh.

Speaking about the transgression in

Parliament on December 13, 2022, Defence

Minister Mr. Rajnath Singh said, “On

December 9, 2022, PLA troops tried to

transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of

the Tawang Sector and unilaterally change

the status quo. The Chinese attempt was

contested by our troops in a firm and resolute

manner. The ensuing face-off led to a physical

scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely

prevented the PLA from transgressing into

our territory and compelled them to return

to their posts. The scuffle led to injuries to