Current Affairs

Ministry of Defence

• Govt gives Contract Worth 6,300 Crore to GRSE for Building Eightanti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts
• Ministry of Defence has awarded Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE)contract to build eight AntiSubmarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASWSWCs) for Indian Navy. The contract worth Rs. 6,311.32 crore was signed today by Joint Secretary & Acquisition Manager (Maritime Systems) Shri Ravi Kant on behalf of Ministry of Defence and Shri S S Dogra, Director (Finance), on behalf of GRSE, in New Delhi.
• It may be noted that the RFP was issued by Indian Navy to DPSU Shipyards and Indian Private Shipyards in April 2014, with GRSE emerging as the successful bidder for design, construction and supply of the eight ASWSWCs. The 1st ship is to be delivered within 42 months from contract signing date and subsequent balance ships delivery schedule will be two ships per year. The project completion time is 84 months from today.
• The GRSE is currently handling major projects to make three Stealth Frigates for Indian Navy under P17A Project, ASW Corvettes for Indian Navy, LCUs for Indian Navy, four Survey Vessels (Large) for Indian Navy, FPVs for Indian Coast Guard, etc.
• The GRSE has been a pioneer warship builder of the nation having delivered the highest number of warships till date since its inception as a DPSU in 1960. The 100 warships built by GRSE so far ranges from Advanced Frigates to Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes to Fleet Tankers, Fast Attack Crafts, etc. with the Shipyard having many firsts to its credit in terms of Innovation and Design. The present Project will further consolidate GRSE’s position as a unique shipyard with all round capability to design and build ASWSWC warships with state-of-the-art technology.
• These Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts are designed for a deep displacement of 750 tons, speed of 25 knots and complement of 57 and capable of full-scale sub surface surveillance of coastal waters, SAU and Coordinated ASW operations with Aircraft.
• In addition, the vessels shall have the capability to interdict/ destroy sub surface targets in coastal waters. These can also be deployed for Search and Rescue by day and night in coastal areas. In their secondary role, these will be capable to prosecute intruding aircraft, and lay mines in the sea bed.
• The vessels are equipped with highly advanced state-of-the-art integrated platform management systems including Propulsion Machinery, Auxiliary Machinery, Power Generation and Distribution Machinery and Damage Control Machinery, etc.These warships will be built as per Classification Society Rules and Naval Ship Regulations and will conform to latest Marine Pollution Standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
• The design and construction of these ships at GRSE is another significant milestone in the ‘Make In India’ Initiative of the Government of India.
• Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Ltd (IAST: Gārḍen rÄ«c È™ipabilḍars limiá¹­eḍ), abbreviated as GRSE, is one of India's leading shipyards, located in Kolkata, West Bengal.
• It builds and repairs commercial and naval vessels.
• Presently GRSE has also started building export ships in a mission to expand its business.
• Founded in 1884 as a small privately owned company on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, it was renamed as Garden Reach Workshop in 1916.
• The company was nationalised by the Government of India in 1960. It was awarded the Miniratna status, with accompanying financial and operational autonomy in September 2006.
• It is first Indian shipyard to build 100 warships

MCQ 1

•  Section ______ of Indian Penal Code (IPC) can be used by transgenders to register complaints of sexual harassment.

(A) 377

(B) 354A

(C) 341

(D) 153

1. 354 A Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment

• Description

1. A man committing any of the following acts—
2. physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures; or
3. a demand or request for sexual favours; or
4. showing pornography against the will of a woman; or
5. making sexually coloured remarks, shall be guilty of the offence of sexual harassment1 .
6. Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (i) or clause (ii) or clause (iii) of sub-section (1) shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
7. Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (iv) of sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
8. Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013

MCQ 2

SAMPANN scheme is for

1. Jail inmates
2. Pensioners
3. Farmers life insurance
4. None

• SAMPANN - the System for Authority and Management of Pension launched today, will greatly facilitate pensioners of the telecom department, and help in timely disbursement of pension.

MCQ 3

• 6th International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) was inaugurated in

1. Bhopal
2. New Delhi
3. Varanasi
4. Mumbai

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Varanasi and Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh. He dedicated the 6th International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) to the nation. The Institute is built at the campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi. During the visit, he laid the foundation stone of medical College in Ghazipur.
• The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is an international agricultural research and training organization with headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna in the Philippines and offices in seventeen countries with ~1,300 staff. IRRI is known for its work in developing rice varieties that contributed to the Green Revolutionin the 1960s which preempted the famine in Asia.
• The Institute, established in 1960 aims to reduce poverty and hunger, improve the health of rice farmers and consumers, and ensure environmental sustainability of rice farming. It advances its mission through collaborative research, partnerships, and the strengthening of the national agricultural research and extension systems of the countries IRRI works in.
• IRRI is one of 15 agricultural research centers in the world that form the CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, a global partnership of organizations engaged in research on food security. It is also the largest non-profit agricultural research center in Asia

MCQ 4

• _________launches toll free helpline 14433 facility to file complaint through CSC

1. Ministry of women & CD
2. Ministry of home
3. NITI aayog
4. NHRC

• National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) launched a toll-free number 14433 and a facility to file complaints through Common Service Center (CSC).
• The toll-free number is 14433 and has been unveiled by Justice (retd.) H.L.Dattu, Chairperson of NHRC at the headquarters of the body, Manav Adhikar Bhawan.
• People can now send their complaints related to human rights violation through both the toll-free number and CSCs, although the toll-free number will only be available during office hours. A collaboration between NHRC and CSC has been formed and the service has been provided to 750 CSCs with at least one in each district. Secretary-General of NHRC.

MCQ 5

• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

1. a statutory body established by the Government of India to combat wildlife crime
2. It was constituted through the NBA 2002

• Choose correct

(A)Only 1

(B)Only 2

(C) Both

(D)None

• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) a statutory body established by the Government of India to combat wildlife crime. It was constituted through the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 1972 and received its on 6 June 2007. It became operational in 2008.
• WCCB won the prestigious 2010 Clark R. Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Awards for its outstanding work on wildlife law enforcement in the country, which was received by Ramesh K Pandey, Deputy Director, on behalf of WCCB.
• UNEP has also awrded WCCB with Asia Environment Enforcement Award, 2018.
• WCCB is also partnering with United Nations University and CIESIN-Earth Institute at Columbia University through the Wildlife Enforcement Monitoring SystemInitiative.

MCQ 6

1. District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) was named “Disha” for effective development coordination of almost all the programmes of Central Government
2. these Committees would monitor the implementation of 28 schemes and programmes of Ministry of Rural Development and other Ministries to promote synergy and convergence for greater impact.

• Choose correct

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Both

(D) None

• Centre forms ‘Disha’ for timely implementation of Central Schemes
• 28 important central schemes to be monitored in federal mode-Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
• The Centre had announced the formation of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DDCMC) to be named “Disha” for effective development coordination of almost all the programmes of Central Government, whether it is for infrastructure development or Social and human resource development.
• Making a suo-motu statement in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation Shri Narendra Singh Tomar said that to begin with, these Committees would monitor the implementation of 28 schemes and programmes of Ministry of Rural Development and other Ministries to promote synergy and convergence for greater impact.
• The main purpose of this committee is to coordinate with Central and State and local Panchayat Governments, for successful and timely implementation of the schemes. Efforts will be made to ensure the participation of people’s representative at all levels in it and successful implementation of flagship programme of central government. Instruction has been issued to hold the first meeting of DISHA on 13th August, 2016.
• The Statement said that the DDCMC supercedes the District Vigilance & Monitoring Committee currently mandated by Ministry of Rural Development and the new committee will be known as “Disha”.
• The meetings of the committee should be held once in every Quarter (Third Saturdays of April, July, October and February) and this has been made mandatory.

MCQ 7

1. Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of Representation of People Act, 1951 & which secured not less than 10% of the votes polled in last General Election or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive Electoral Bonds.
2. Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period.

• Choose correct

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Both

(D) None

• As per provisions of the Scheme, Electoral Bonds may be purchased by a person, who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India. A person being an individual can buy Electoral Bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals.
• Only the Political Parties registered under Section 29A of Representation of People Act, 1951 & which secured not less than 1% of the votes polled in last General Election or the Legislative Assembly of the State, shall be eligible to receive Electoral Bonds.
• Electoral Bonds shall be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through a Bank account with the Authorized Bank. Electoral Bonds shall be valid for fifteen calendar days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Electoral Bond is deposited after expiry of the validity period. The Electoral Bond deposited by an eligible Political Party in its account shall be credited on the same day.

MCQ 8

• The Board of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority(IRDA) has approved Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) proposal to the acquisition of up to 51% stake in state-run lender _____

1. NHB
2. SIDBI
3. IDBI
4. NABARD

• The Board of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority(IRDA) has approved Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) proposal to the acquisition of up to 51% stake in state-run lender IDBI Bank. The insurance regulator gave the insurer exemption from 15% investment cap.
• The LIC is expected to invest Rs 10,000-13,000 crore in tranches in the NPA-mired state-run lender. The deal will also require approval from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

MCQ 9

• The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved to set up two more underground crude oil storages in

1. Chandikhol, Karnataka
2. Padur, Odisha

• Choose correct

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Both

(D) None

• The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi has approved to set up two more underground crude oil storages in Chandikhol, Odisha, and Padur, Karnataka to increase emergency stockpile cover by 12 days to 22 days.
• The announcement was made by the Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi.
• The SPR (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) facilities at Chandikhol and Padur will be underground rock caverns and will have capacities of 4 MMT and 2.5 MMT respectively.

MCQ 10

• What is Jaihind-1S

1. An aircraft
2. A missile destroyer Submarine
3. A satellite
4. A space probe by ISRO

• The first-year engineering students Harikrishan, P Amarnath, G Sudhi and T Giri Prasad from Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science near Chennai built the 4cm ‘cube’ satellite 'Jaihind-1S' with a 3D printed outer casing from polylactic acid (PLA) nylon material, making it lighter than a medium sized egg, at just 33.39 grams.
• The satellite has been designed and fabricated for the ‘Cubes in Space’ competition conducted by Colorado Space Grant consortium, NASA and idoodle-learning.
• It will be flown on a scientific balloon up to an altitude of 70km.
• This satellite was launched from a NASA facility in the US by August 2018. The previous lightweight satellite developed by Rifath Sharook, also from Tamil Nadu, and launched in the same competition in 2017 had weighed 64 grams.