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1. Consider the following statements with respect to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
1. It is the primary fund available with State Governments for responses to notified disasters.
2. The Union Government contributes 75% of the allocation for general category States and Union Territories and 90% for special category States.
3. The annual Central contribution in this fund is released in two equal installments as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF)
The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), constituted under Section 48 (1) (a) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is the primary fund available with State Governments for responses to notified disasters.
The Central Government contributes 75% of SDRF allocation for general category States/UTs and 90% for special category States/UTs (NE States, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir).
The annual Central contribution is released in two equal installments as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission. SDRF shall be used only for meeting the expenditure for providing immediate relief to the victims.
Disaster (s) covered under SDRF: Cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, frost and cold waves.
Local Disaster: A State Government may use up to 10 percent of the funds available under the SDRF for providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters that they consider to be ‘disasters’ within the local context in the State and which are not included in the notified list of disasters of the Ministry of Home Affairs subject to the condition that the State Government has listed the State specific natural disasters and notified clear and transparent norms and guidelines for such disasters with the approval of the State Authority, i.e., the State Executive Authority (SEC).
https://www.ndmindia.nic.in/response-fund
2. Which of the following Tribes and State is correctly matched?
Tribes State
1. Galo Tribe Arunachal Pradesh
2. Siddi Tribe Karnataka
3. Hakki-Pikki Tribe Tripura
4. Kukis Tribe Mizoram
Choose the correct option.
(a) 1 and 4 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2 and 4 only
Answer-d
Explanation-
A tribal lockdown ritual has staged a comeback in Arunachal Pradesh, the State geographically closest to China’s Hubei province where the COVID-19 outbreak began.
Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district ceremonially entered the Arr-Rinam phase on March 26, 2020.
Arr-Rinam is the Galo equivalent of lockdown imposed by consensus for 48 hours whenever an epidemic strikes.
The Galos, one of the 26 major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, dominate West Siang district. Arr-Rinam, which follows the Ali-Ternam ritual to ward off an epidemic, has been a part of their culture.
Ali-Ternam — Ali means epidemic and Ternam forestall — and Arr-Rinam were last performed almost four decades ago when a water-borne disease had affected many members of the community.
Tribes State
Galo Tribe Arunachal Pradesh
Siddi Tribe Karnataka
Hakki-Pikki Tribe Karnataka
Kukis Tribe Mizoram
3. Consider the following statements with respect to the Telemedicine Guidelines.
1. Telemedicine guidelines are released recently by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
2. Telemedicine comprises remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications such video, phone, chatting apps, etc.
3. According to the guidelines, only registered medical practitioners enrolled in the State Register or the National Register can practise telemedicine, but after completing an online course.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
Telemedicine
The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.
Telehealth
The delivery and facilitation of health and health-related services including medical care, provider and patient education, health information services, and self-care via telecommunications and digital communication technologies.
Registered Medical Practitioner [RMP]
A Registered Medical Practitioner [RMP] is a person who is enrolled in the State Medical Register or the Indian Medical Register under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956.
Telemedicine Guidelines
After the Supreme Court ordered guidelines on telemedicine practice in the wake of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare came with the same recently.
The guidelines were prepared in collaboration with NITI Aayog.
India did not have any set of guidelines on the practice till now.
There is no legal framework to encourage medical practitioners to provide remote medical consultations during a pandemic.
According to the guidelines, only registered medical practitioners (RMP) enrolled in the State Register or the National Register under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956, can practise telemedicine, but after completing an online course.
The online program will be developed and made available by the Board of Governors in supersession of Medical Council of India.
All RMPs will need to complete the course within three years of notification of the guidelines to provide consultation via telemedicine.
According to the guidelines, telemedicine consultation should not be anonymous.
The RMP should ensure that there is a mechanism for a patient to verify the credentials and contact details.
For issuing a prescription, the RMP needs to explicitly ask the age of the patient.
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/Telemedicine.pdf
4. The DIKSHA Portal is recently seen in news, associated with which of the following ministery?
(a) Ministry of Human Resource Development
(b) Ministry of Women and Child Development
(c) Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
(d) Ministry of Home affairs
Answer-a
Explanation-
Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA)-National Teacher Platform
Diksha Portal was launched in 2017 for providing digital platform to teachers giving them an opportunity to learn and train themselves and connect with teacher community.
This initiative has been taken forward to enhance coverage and improve the quality of e-content for teachers.
All States and UTs and also KVs and NVs have been asked to involve proactively in crating contents for DIKSHA.
NCERT, CBSE are also actively involved in taking the DIKSHA initiative forward. Till date, more than 67000 of content pieces have been hosted on DIKSHA and more than 10.5 crore scans have been affected.
What does the platform provide?
NTP envisages providing:
• Teacher training courses (example – training on learning outcomes, CCE, etc.)
• Teaching resources such as lesson plans, concept videos, worksheets, mapped to curriculum
• Assessments for teachers, to find out their strengths and areas of improvement
Teachers will be able to access this material offline on their smart phones, tablets and other devices anytime and anywhere. Material will be contextualized to local languages as well as mapped to the curriculum.
Scope of the platform
The NTP will cater to teachers from all stages of school education including pre-primary, primary, upper primary, secondary and senior secondary. All institutions, groups and individuals catering to the above can be enrolled as members of the platform, and can contribute to the creation, curation and use of resources on the platform.
Expected benefits
By building the National Teacher Platform (NTP), the MHRD envisions following benefits:
• Teachers can access relevant personalized professional development training anytime and anywhere
• Teachers in Schools can use the curriculum-linked resources to prepare for class or use them to teach in the class, while Teacher Educators in TEIs can use it to deliver blended training
• Student Teachers in TEIs and contractual Teachers will be able to take courses on the NTP to prepare for the TET and/or get certified
• Cluster & Block Resource Personnel can use standardised observation tools on the NTP to provide need-based coaching support to teachers and do continuous training-needs analysis
• NTP infrastructure shared amongst many states will avoid duplication of efforts and save costs
• Teachers will have access to their own personalized workspace where they can plan and track their progress including courses completed, performance in tests etc.
https://vikaspedia.in/education/teacherscorner/national-teacher-platform
5. Consider the following statements with reference to the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
1. It is a United States federal law that was enacted in August 2017 with the objective of countering the aggression by Iran, Russia and North Korea.
2. The Act empowers the US President to impose at least five of the 12 listed sanctions on persons engaged in a significant transaction.
3. The act has provided the President the mechanisms of a waiver.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation
Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)
CAATSA is a United States federal law that was enacted in August 2017 with the objective of countering the aggression by Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures (e.g. imposing sanctions)
Section 231 of CAATSA does not specifically identify any particular sanction. It merely requires the President to “impose five or more of the sanctions described in section 235 (of CAATSA)”. That section lists 12 types of sanctions. Of these, 10 will have very little, or no, impact on India’s current relations with either Russia or the US. Some of these are:
• Prohibition on loans to the sanctioned person [sec. 235(a)(3)];
• Prohibition of Export-Import bank assistance for exports to sanctioned persons [Sec. 235(a)(1)];
• Prohibition on procurement by United States Government to procure goods or services from the sanctioned person [Sec. 235(a)(6)];
• Denial of visas to persons closely associated with the sanctioned person [Sec. 235(a)(11) and (12)], etc.
Under Section 231, the Department of State has notified almost all of the major Russian companies dealings with which could make third parties liable to sanctions if it adversely affects US national security and foreign policy interests.
https://idsa.in/idsacomments/caatsa-sanctions-and-india-gbalachandran-260918