Thursday Acknowledge with General Knowledge
Question 1-5
The (X) launched PM Svanidhi, or Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi scheme, which is a special micro-credit facility plan to provide affordable loan of up to (Y) to more than 50 lakh street vendors, who had their businesses operational on or before 24 March. The scheme is valid until March 2022.
It was announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 14 May to enable street vendors to resume their livelihoods, which have been hit hard due to the national lockdown.
Under the scheme, vendors can avail working capital loan of up to (Y), which is repayable in monthly instalments within one year.
On timely/early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy of 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through DBT on six-months basis. There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan.
The scheme is applicable to vendors, hawkers, thelewalas, rehriwalas, theliphadwalas in different areas/contexts who supply goods and services. Street vendors belonging to the surrounding peri-urban/rural areas are also included.
A timely repayment will ensure that the vendor gets a credible credit score and are eligible for a higher loan. Small Industries Development Bank of India is the technical partner for implementation of this scheme and will manage the credit guarantee to the lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises.
India has been under an extended lockdown from 25 March to tackle the spread of covid-19. The lockdown has affected the lives and livelihoods of many especially daily wagers including street vendors who businesses were affected due to the restrictions.
In the fifth phase of the lockdown which began, the government has eased restrictions for movement of people and businesses to resume.
1. Which of the following Ministries has launched PM-SVANIDHI scheme?
a. Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry
b. MSME Ministry
c. Union Finance Ministry
d. Niti Aayog
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry launched the scheme in pursuance of the announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
• Street vendors play significant role in ensuring availability of the goods and services at affordable rates at the door-step of the city dwellers.
• The scheme targets to benefit over 50 lakh street vendors, who had been vending on or before 24th March this year, in urban areas.
• The duration of the scheme is till March 2022. The street vendors belonging to the surrounding peri-urban or rural areas are being included as beneficiaries under the urban livelihoods programme for the first time.
2. Who among the following is the Union Minister of (X)?
a. Hardeep Singh Puri
b. Nitin Gadkari
c. Piyush Goyal
d. Nirmala Sitharaman
S-a
3. What does (Y) stand for in the passage which is the maximum loan that can be provided to street vendors?
a. 10,000
b. 20,000
c. 1,00,000
d. 3,00,000
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• The Union Cabinet on June 1 cleared a credit scheme for street vendors so that they can revive their businesses without any further delay.
• The scheme, called PM SVANidhi, or PM Street Vendors Atmanirbhar Nidhi, is a special micro-credit facility scheme to enable more than 50 lakh urban/peri-urban & rural street vendors who were vending on or before March 24, 2020, to restart their livelihoods affected due to the lockdown.
• Under the scheme, each of these streets vendors will be given a credit loan of Rs 10,000, which they can return as monthly installments within a year.
4. The passage mentions that money will be transferred through DBT. What does ‘D’ stand for in the same?
a. Debit
b. Direct
c. Division
d. Divided
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• DBT stands for Direct Benefit Transfer. This was launched on 1 January 2013.
• Under this subsidies were directly transferred to the people in their account to reduce leakages, delays etc.
5. Which of the following is the principal financial institution in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector?
a. RBI
b. SIDBI
c. NABARD
d. SEBI
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• SIDBI stands for Small industrial Development Bank of India.
• It is the principal financial institution in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
• Chairman and MD-Mohammad Mustafa
• HQ- Lucknow
Question (6-10)
Centre approves Rs 1,407 crore for implementation of (X) mission in Assam during 2020-21 Jal Shakti Ministry said, Assam has planned to provide functional tap connections to 13 lakh rural households in 2020-21, out of total 63 lakh households.
The state has planned to immediately provide household tap connections to all remaining households belonging to weaker and marginalised sections on a priority basis.
A defined roadmap has also been charted for the effective implementation of Village Action Plan with the active participation of the rural community.
The Ministry said that migrant labourers coming back to the state are basically skilled and semi-skilled, whose services could be utilized in by providing jobs related to water supply especially plumbing, fitting and water conservation works in every village to ensure sufficient ground water availability.
(X) was announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year aims to provide tap water connections to 18 Crore rural households of the country by the year (Y).
6. What does (X) stand for in the given passage, which aims to provide tap water connections to 18 Crore rural households of the country?
a. Jal India Mission
b. Jal Srishti Mission
c. Jalnidhi mission
d. Jal Jeevan Mission
S-d
EXPLANATION-
• (X) stands for Jal Jeevan Mission,
• JJM envisages supply of 55 litres of water per person per day to every rural household through Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) by 2024.
• JJM focuses on integrated demand and supply-side management of water at the local level.
7. (Y) represents the time by when the government plans to implement (X) completely. What does ‘Y’ stand for?
a. 2024
b. 2022
c. 2023
d. 2021
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Jal Jeevan Mission, a central government initiative under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, aims to ensure access of piped water for every household in India.
• It aims to provide to all households in rural India safe and adequate water through individual household tap connections by 2024.
8. Who among the following is the Union Jal Shakti Minister of India?
a. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
b. Nitin Gadkari
c. Piyush Goyal
d. Rajnath Singh
S-a
9. When did the government form the Union Jal Shakti Ministry?
a. 2018
b. 2019
c. 2014
d. 2017
S-c
EXPLANATION-
• Ministry of Jal Shakti is a ministry under Government of India which was formed in May 2019 under the second Modi government.
• This was formed by merging of two ministries; Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
10. When was the Namami Gange project launched by the Government of India?
a. 2014
b. 2019
c. 2020
d. 2021
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• ‘Namami Gange Programme’, is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga.
• Its implementation has been divided into Entry-Level Activities (for immediate visible impact), Medium-Term Activities (to be implemented within 5 years of time frame) and Long-Term Activities (to be implemented within 10 years).
Question (11-15)
Three more states have been included in (X) scheme. They are Odisha, Sikkim and Mizoram.
Consumer Affairs Minister (Y) announced the inclusion of these states in the scheme on Integrated Management of Public Distribution System.
Under this system, nation-wide portability of the benefits under National Food Security Act through (X) plan is implemented to enable the NFSA ration card holders to lift their entitled quota of subsidized food grains from any e-PoS enabled Fair Price Shop of their choice anywhere in the country, by using the existing and same ration card after Aadhaar authentication.
The facility so far is enabled in 17 States and UTs including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Further, constant efforts are being made to expand the reach of national portability to the beneficiaries of other states.
By August 2020, Uttarakhand, Nagaland and Manipur will also be added to the national cluster. Centre is doing all necessary arrangements to include remaining all 13 states like West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh to the national cluster. It is confirmed that by 2021 all states will be added to (X) scheme.
11. In the given passage, which of the following scheme does (X) refer to?
a. One Nation, One Ration Card
b. Swachh Bharat
c. One Right Movement
d. Each Right
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• ‘X’ refers to One Nation, One Ration card scheme.
• Under the National Food Security Act, 2013, about 81 crore persons are entitled to buy subsidized foodgrain — rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse grains at Re 1/kg — from their designated Fair Price Shops (FPS) of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
• Currently, about 23 crore ration cards have been issued to nearly 80 crore beneficiaries of NFSA in all states and UTs.
• In the present system, a ration cardholder can buy foodgrains only from an FPS that has been assigned to her in the locality in which she lives. However, this will change once the ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ system becomes operational nationally.
12. The premise of (X) is based on FPS. What does ‘F’ stand for in the same?
a. Fair
b. Financial
c. Fiscal
d. Fact
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• FPS stands for Fair Price Shop. It is also known as Public Distribution Shop.
• These shops distribute food and non-food items to India's poor at subsidised rates.
• People are entitled to buy subsidized foodgrain — rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg, and coarse grains at Re 1/kg — from their designated Fair Price Shops (FPS).
13. Who among the following is (Y), the consumer affairs Minister of India?
a. Ram Vilas Paswan
b. Piyush Goyal
c. Ram Mohan Pandey
d. Nitin Gadkari
S-a
14. As on 1 June 2020, how many states and UTs in India have come on board to roll out inter-state portability of ration cards?
a. 17
b. 20
c. 18
d. 19
S-b
EXPLANATION-
• 17 states and UTs — Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu — have come on board to roll out the inter-state portability of ration cards under the NFSA.
• Three more states — Odisha, Mizoram, and Nagaland — are expected to come on board by June 1, taking the number of States and UTs to 20 under the One Nation, Once Ration Card System.
15. By when is the government expecting to get all the states and UTs in the ambit of (X)?
a. 31 March 2021
b. 1 January 2021
c. 1 August 2021
d. 1 April 2021
S-a
Question (16-20)
Union Government has launched a new initiative SWADES to conduct a skill mapping exercise of the returning citizens under the (X) Mission.
This is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Civil Aviation Ministry and (Y).
SWADES aims to create a database of qualified citizens based on their skillsets and experience to tap into and fulfil demand of Indian and foreign companies.
The collected information will be shared with the companies for suitable placement opportunities in the country.
The returning citizens are required to fill up an online SWADES Skills Card.
It is crucial that the entire country supports the Centre in its efforts to address the challenges posed by the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data collected through SWADES Skill Card will help the citizens with job prospects and bridge the demand-supply gap.
In order to ensure dissemination of information on SWADES Skill Card, In-flight announcements are being made by Air India and Air Indian Express that are operating flights under the (X) Mission.
16. In the given passage why does ‘S’ stand for in SWADES?
a. Skill
b. Socialistic
c. Social
d. Skilled
S-d
EXPLANATION-
• SWADES stands for Skilled Workers Arrival Database for Employment Support.
• It a new initiative of the Government of India to conduct a skill mapping exercise of the returning citizens under the Vande Bharat Mission.
• It will create a database of qualified citizens based on their skillsets and experience to tap into and fulfil demand of Indian and foreign companies.
17. SWADES is an initiative of which of the following ministries, that has been represented as (Y) in the given passage?
a. External Affairs Ministry
b. Finance Ministry
c. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
d. Home Ministry
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• ‘Y’ stands for Union External Affairs Ministry.
• SWADES is an initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Civil Aviation Ministry and External Affairs Ministry.
18. What does ‘X’ stand for in the given passage?
a. Vande Bharat
b. Mera Bharat
c. Mission Bharat
d. Hamara Bharat
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• In the given passage , ‘X’ refers to Vande Bharat Mission.
• It is the largest repatriation missions of the world that allowed passengers to travel back to India in the state owned flights.
• It was launched on May 7, 2020.
• The passengers were charged a fees for the same.
19. Who among the following is the Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship?
a. Hardeep Singh Puri
b. Mahendra Nath Pandey
c. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
d. Dharmendra Pradhan
S-b
20. What is the name of India’s repatriation exercise being conducted through sea route?
a. Samudra Setu
b. Samudra Manthan
c. Samudra Paar
d. Hamara Vatan
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Indian Navy has launched Operation 'Samudra Setu' as a part of national effort to repatriate Indian nationals stranded in the Maldives due to the COVID-19 chaos.
• Two ships of Indian Navy are en route for this Operation and are a part of 'Vande Bharat Mission'.
• The two ships are Jalashwa and Magar.
Question (21-25)
Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Urban Affairs Minister (X) launched a joint initiative, (Y) aimed at providing internships to the engineering students in the country.
(Y) will mutually benefit all stakeholders, including the students, urban local bodies and the Industry in identifying young talents.
This unique and first of its kind opportunity in the country will help unleash India's demographic dividend by creating a talent pool which can pave the way for making Indian cities more self-reliant.
(Y) will equip the youth with problem solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on, experiential learning in India's fast growing urban ecosystem.
This platform will utilise the innovative thought process of youths to amend the urban infrastructure for greater benefit.
The initiative will also assist in achieving India's goal of reaching a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next 5 years.
(Y) platform has been designed to effectively create a repository of all participating interns and will facilitate their final placement and recruitment. The urban learning internship program will provide opportunities to students in various urban local bodies across the country for development of smart cities.
The web based platform can also be used by the interns for obtaining certificate of participation after completion of their internship. It is likely to benefit around 25 thousand students in the first year of its launch.
21. Who among the following is the Minister of State for Urban Affairs, which is being represented by (X) in the given passage?
a. Hardeep Singh Puri
b. Piyush Goyal
c. Mahendra Nath
d. Ganjendra Singh Shekhawat
S-a
22. What does ‘Y’ stand for in the given passage, which is a joint initiative of HRD and Urban Affairs Ministry?
a. TULIP
b. LEADER
c. ELEVATE
d. MIDDLE
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• ‘Y’ in the given passage refers to TULIP.
• TULIP stands for The Urban Learning Internship Program .
• It is a program for providing internship opportunities to fresh graduates in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Smart Cities across the country.
23. Which of the following has designed the ‘Y’ platform?
a. AICTE
b. UGC
c. NTA
d. Niti Aayog
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• TULIP has been designed by AICTE.
• Technical support for the platform shall be anchored by AICTE and the programmatic non-technical support shall be anchored by MoHUA.
24. By 2025, providing how many successful internships is the target of AICTE?
a. 1 crore
b. 2 crores
c. 3 crores
d. 4 crores
S-a
25. Which of the following is launched by MHRD for enabling smooth and hassle free interaction between students and teachers?
a. DIKSHA
b. VIDYA
c. VIDYUT
d. DUSHAL
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• DIKSHA is an e-learning portal launched by MHRD for enabling smooth and hassle free interaction between students and teachers. Find out how to enrol for DIKSHA portal and other relevant details.
• It is the national Digital Infrastructure for Teachers and students and is a customizable platform.
• It is currently being used by teachers (from both government and private institutions) across the nation for all the standards to help the students learn several concepts.
