1. Which is the first state to implement agricultural land leasing policy?
a. Uttarakhand
b. Haryana
c. Punjab
d. Maharashtra
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Uttarakhand has become the first state in the country where the government has made a policy to lease agricultural land.
• In lieu of giving land on a 30-year lease, the concerned farmer will get the rent for the land.
• In the hilly areas of the state, the obstacles of leasing land for farming, agriculture, horticulture, herbs, off-season vegetables, milk production, tea plantation, fruit hybridization and solar energy has been removed with this step.
• After getting approval from the Raj Bhavan, the state government has issued its notification. Now any institution, company, firm or NGO can take farm land on lease in villages, leasing a maximum of 30 acres of land on lease for 30 years.
• There is a provision to take more land in special circumstances. If there is government land around farm land, then it can be leased by paying the fee with the permission of the District Magistrate.
• The state government has made this policy in the wake of difficulties in the consolidation of land.
2. Where will be India’s first war memorial for animals inaugurated?
a. Uttar Pradesh
b. Bihar
c. Delhi
d. Haryana
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh will be host to India’s first war memorial for service animals including dogs, horses and mules.
• This place will dedicate itself to the contributions and heroics of animals who have helped the army in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir and in the battlefield during the Kargil War.
• The memorial, claimed by officials to be similar to the National Warn Memorial in Delhi, will come up at the army’s specialized breeding, rearing and training centre for animals: the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College in Meerut.
• Granite tablets with names and service numbers of more than 300 dogs, 350 handlers and a few horses’ mules will be inscribed at the memorial. The preliminary design of the memorial and the land has already been identified.
• Mansi, a Labrador, who was awarded army’s highest honour for dogs due to her role in the counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir in 2016, tops the list of animals to be remembered, said the report. Her handler, Bashir Ahmed War, will also adorn the tablet.
• The army has more than 100 dogs, 5000 mules and 1500 horses.
3. Which of the following has set up NEST division?
a. Ministry of External Affairs
b. HRD Ministry
c. Niti Aayog
d. Union Railways Ministry
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• The External affairs ministry announced the setting up of new emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) division.
• The division will work to increase investment coordination among the states of the country and also with the foreign countries.
• It will act as the nodal division within the ministry for issues pertaining to new and emerging technologies.
• It will help in collaboration with foreign partners in the field of 5G and artificial intelligence.
• The division will also hold responsibility for matters that involve negotiations with multilateral fora like the United Nations, G20.
• This will help to safeguard India’s interests as such forums govern the rules of access to such technologies.
4. Which is the first state to pass a resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act.?
a. Kerala
b. West Bengal
c. Andhra Pradesh
d. Madhya Pradesh
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Kerala has become the first state in India to pass a resolution demanding rollback of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Kerala assembly passed a resolution against the CAA on December 31, 2019.
• Kerala had already put on hold all the activities in connection with the National Population Register (NPR) considering the anxiety among people that it relates to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
5. Which of the following is Oxford’s Hindi word of 2019?
a. Samvidhaan
b. Aadhar
c. Avashyak
d. Nirpeksh
S-a
EXPLANATION-
• Oxford University Press (OUP) named ‘Samvidhaan’ (Constitution) the Oxford Hindi Word of 2019, saying it received widespread attention in the year which was witness to the spirit of the Indian Constitution being embraced across segments of the society
• The Oxford Hindi Word of the Year is a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of attention and reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past year.
• The word ‘Samvidhaan’ first received widespread attention in August 2019, with the abrogation of two key constitutional provisions - Article 370 and Article 35(A) of the Indian Constitution, on August 5, which effectively removed the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.
• Some major decisions by the Supreme Court also significantly contributed to Samvidhaan’s prominence in 2019: the Sabarimala verdict, the floor test in Maharashtra and upholding of the order of the former Speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly disqualifying 17 MLAs under the anti-defection law.
