 Good evening, aspirants. Welcome to the Target 2020 series by Shankar IIS Academy. In this video, we will discuss 50 important topics belonging to the current affairs of September 2019 from the prince perspective. These topics have been sourced from the Hindi newspaper, business standards, live mint, and also from government sources like Press Information Bureau. And the content for these topics have been sourced from reliable government sources like Ministry of Websites, E-Gazette, PIB, etc. And these are the 50 topics which we have chosen from September 2019. The PDF link for this session is given in the description box and also in the comment section. Let us move on to the first question discussion. The first question for the September series is based on Amazon Forest. The Amazon Forest or the Amazon Rainforest was news because of the forest fires that happened in August to September 2019. The Amazon Rainforest is the largest intact forest in the world. In other words, it has the largest continuous tropical forest in the world. And even the Food and Agriculture Organization notes that the Amazon Rainforest is twice the size of India. It is home to more than 24 million people in Brazil alone and it includes hundreds of thousands of indigenous people belonging to 180 different groups of the forest. So whether it is confined to one country, no, it covers 2.6 million square miles and it is extended over nine countries of South American continent. So the second half of the first statement is correct. It is present in South America. Now let us see whether it is spread across all the countries in South American continent. See a major part, even almost 60 percentage of the Amazon Rainforest is spread across northwestern parts of Brazil. So that means second statement is correct. You can clearly see this in this map also. In addition to Brazil, the whole of Peru and even the southern Colombia share less than 25 percentage of the Amazon Rainforest. Then the other countries other than Brazil, Peru and Colombia, where the territory of Amazon Rainforest extends are to Bolivia, then to the east of Ecuador, then it spreads across Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and also it is spread to the north of French Guyane. This French Guyane is an overseas territory of France. You can see in this map that how beautifully the Amazon River, which is the second longest river in the world, meanders through the dense foliage of Amazon Forest and it has a biodiversity. The region is home to 10% of all plants and annual species that are known on earth. And there are approximately 40,000 species of plants and more than 400 mammals with almost 1,300 different variety of birds. And it also has an insect population in the millions. So you can see that it has diverse biodiversity. In addition to this, Amazon also plays an essential role in helping to control the planet's atmospheric carbon levels. The Amazon Basin stores approximately 100 billion metric tons of carbon. If deforestation of this forest is carried out, then it may release significant amounts of carbon and it will have catastrophic consequences around the world. There is one another importance of this forest that this forest is often regarded as the lungs of the earth because it is believed that this rainforest produce more than 20% of the world's oxygen. So that means this rainforest is very much important to the world. But unfortunately, according to the conservation organizations, in the last 40 years, the Brazilian Amazon itself has lost more than 80% of the rainforest. This loss is due to the threats like illegal logging, soy plantations, then cattle ranching, etc. And then as we saw in the beginning, this forest is also prone to forest fires. So conserving this rainforest is important. Now coming to the first statement, it mentions this Amazon forest spread across all the countries in South America. But already we saw that it is spread across only nine countries of South America. So it is not spread across all the countries because countries like Chile, Argentina are also present in South America. But this rainforest is not extended to these countries. So this statement is incorrect. Here the question asks for the incorrect statement. So before marking the final answer, always have a look at whether the question asked for the correct statements or the incorrect statements. Here the correct answer becomes option A, one only. And additionally, remember that major part of this forest is spread across Brazil only. And in the second place is Peru, which contains 10% of the Amazon rainforest. Now this next question is based on Convention on Cybercrime. The question asks, this Convention on Cybercrime of 2001 of the Council of Europe is the only binding international instrument on cybercrime. This Convention was in use because the Council of Europe was asking India to join the Convention. So that means India is still not a signatory to this Convention. And in the August, September period, a national conference on cybercrime investigation in foreign six was organized by the CBI, that is Central Bureau of Investigation. In this conference also, this Convention was discussed. So that was a news at that time. And additionally, Peru, which is a non-member of Council of Europe, joined this Convention in August 2019. So for three instances, this topic was on news. And this Convention on Cybercrime of 2001, which is a Convention of Council of Europe, it is also known as Budapest Convention. So the correct answer to his question is option C only. And this international instrument is the only binding international instrument on cybercrime. And it serves as a guideline for any country that is developing comprehensive national legislation against cybercrime. Further, it also serves as a framework for international cooperation between the state parties to this treaty. And this Convention, that is the Budapest Convention is supplemented by a protocol on xenophobia and racism committed through computer systems. This protocol is also framed by the Council of Europe. So the Convention is the first international treaty on crimes that are committed via the internet and other computer networks. It deals particularly with the infringement of copyright. It deals with computer related fraud, child pornography, and also violations of network security. It also contains a series of powers and procedures such as the search of computer networks and interception. Its main objective is to pursue a common criminal policy which is aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime. And this will be done by adopting appropriate legislation and by fostering the international cooperation. And from Indian point of view, what you need to know is India did not ratify this Convention and nor did we sign this Convention yet. But our neighbor Sri Lanka has acceded to this Convention. Now the other conventions which are mentioned in this question, Singapore Convention, Marple Convention, Osaka Track, we already discussed these conventions in our July and August series. So just remember that Singapore Convention is based on mediation and it is a UN Convention and India has a signatory to this Convention. And Marple Convention, it is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships, which happens from operational causes or accidental causes. And India is a signatory to this Convention. And as we just saw, Budapest Convention is related to cybercrime. Then the Osaka Track, it is a framework that creates a set of international rules enabling the free movement of data across borders. So Osaka Track is based on digital economy. And remember India is not a signatory. So Singapore Convention is based on mediation, Marple Convention is based on marine pollution, Budapest Convention is based on cybercrime and Osaka Track is based on digital economy. First to two, India is a signatory and the second to India is not a signatory. Now let us take the next question. This question is based on Eastern Economic Forum. The first statement states it is an initiative under India's Act East Policy. So that means it mentions that it is an Indian initiative. Now to see whether this is a correct statement or not, you should first remember that why this Eastern Economic Forum was in news. It was in news because the Indian Prime Minister was invited by the Russian Prime Minister to be the chief guest of the forum in 2019. So from this, it is clear that it is not an Indian initiative. So this means first statement is incorrect. We know that India's Look East Policy has been a major pillar of our foreign policy since the early 1990s. But in the second half of 2014, the Look East Policy was upgraded to the Act East Policy. And this policy focuses on the extended neighborhood in the Asia Pacific region. And the policy was originally conceived as an economic initiative, but later it gained political, strategic and cultural dimensions. And the key principles and objectives of Act East Policy is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and to develop strategic relationship with countries in the Asia Pacific region through continuous engagement at different levels like bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. And this will be carried out by providing enhanced connectivity to the Indian states of Northeastern region with other countries in our neighborhood. So that means the second statement also talks about India's Act East Policy only. But this Eastern Economic Forum is an initiative of Russia. It is not an initiative of India. So both the statements are incorrect. So the correct answer is option D, neither one nor two. This Eastern Economic Forum was established by Russian President in the year 2015. And there are two main objectives of this forum. First is to support the economic development of Russia's Far East and secondly to expand the international cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. The forum's business program includes a number of business dialogues with leading partner countries in the Asia Pacific region and also in the ASEAN, that is Association of Southeast Asian Nations. And here you should note that India is not a prominent investor in the region. The prominent investors are China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. Now let us take the next question. This question is based on Kodawa community. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. The first statement is they are the original inhabitants of Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu. Now this statement is incorrect because the Kodavas are the dominant community in the Kodagu region. In fact the Kodavas are the original inhabitants of the Kodagu region. The Kodagu region is nothing but the Kurg which you would have often heard. It is one of the least populated districts of Karnataka. This region is known for its coffee and also serene locations and it is most importantly known for its brave warriors. This region is situated on the western guards and as we know it is one of the most beautiful hill stations and remember that Kurg or Kodagu is also the birthplace of river Kaveri and the river Kaveri originates from Talakaveri which is present in this region only. And these Kodavas belong to a very old civilization. They have a lifestyle and culture of their own which is very special and attractive. Their language is known as Kodavatak. This language is a combination of Kanada, Tamil and Malayalam but Kanada is the most influential of these three languages and remember this language does not have a script and here you should note that already there is a request to the central government that this language should be added to the list of scheduled languages which are present in the eighth schedule of the constitution. So what about the occupation and tradition of this community? Kodavas have a martial tradition and hunting had been incorporated into their Bay of Life. This community has contributed great personalities like Field Martial Karyapa and General Timaya to our nation. So you can remember that Field Martial Karyapa belong to this community and you can link it with the martial tradition. So the first half of the second statement is correct. They have martial tradition. Now since they have a martial tradition even the traditional festivals of Kodavas are associated with either agriculture or military nature of the people and one such festival is Kailpo. It is the festival of arms and in that day all the arms are removed, polished and worshipped. So that means the third statement is correct. Now we already saw that the first half of the second statement is correct. Now the second half is they are exempted from obtaining arms licenses. Just now we saw that this community has a martial tradition and they have a festival of arms also and there is one more specialty to this community. This community have been getting the exemption of obtaining arms license since the British era. The British had granted the exemption for the people of Kour to possess firearms in 1861 itself and then the central government after independence has provided the exemption in the rules issued under the arms act of 1959. Now this community was in news because the exemption has been extended for a period of 10 years till 2029. So that means until 2029 they are exempted from obtaining license for the arms. So second statement is also correct. Some sources say that Kodavas are the only community in the country who are exempted from obtaining arms licenses. So Kodavas are getting the exemption for over a century and the reason given for this is that firearms were never misused by the community for crimes or anti-national or anti-state activities and that is why they are given exemption. This is the reason given by the government. So the correct answer to this question is option B 2 and 3. Now this next question is based on Law Commission of India and we have to choose the correct statements. First statement is it is a non-permanent constitutional body. So here we have to focus on two words. One is non-permanent and the second one is constitutional body. But if you see the second statement it states it is reconstituted every five years since independence. So the first statement and second statement are contradictory because if it is reconstituted then it is not permanent. Yes it is not a permanent body because every three years normally this commission has been reconstituted. So that means it is a non-permanent body and it is also not a constitutional body because it is not constituted based on any statute or law. Rather it is constituted based on the order of the government. So both these statements are incorrect. Now based on the given options you can say that statement 3 is correct because you have to eliminate 1 and 2 in the options. The third statement states the first law commission before independence was constituted under the chairmanship of Lord Macaulay. It is correct because the statement mentions as before independence. So law commission existed even before independence. The first law commission before independence was established in 1834 under the Charter Act of 1833 and it was constituted under the chairmanship of Lord Macaulay and this commission at that time recommended codification of penal code, codification of criminal procedure code and few other matters also. And even before independence the second, third and fourth law commissions were also constituted. So after independence there were also demands in parliament and outside for establishing a central law commission. So the government of India reacted favorably and established the first law commission of independence India in 1955. So you have to pay attention here. The first law commission of independent India is constituted in 1955 but there was also law commission before independence and the first chairman of the first commission of independent India was the then attorney general of India Mr. M.C. Setalbad and after that 21 more law commissions have been appointed by the government and recently law commission was in news because the 22nd law commission has been constituted and the 22nd law commission constituted for a period of three years from the date of publication of the order of the government in the official gasset. So remember the tenure of law commission is three years and till 21st law commission after every three years the law commission was constituted but the recent law commission that is the 22nd law commission has been constituted very recently in 2020 only even though the tenure of 21st law commission ended in 31st August of 2018 itself. So the 22nd law commission was not constituted in 2018 or 2019 rather it has been constituted very recently in February 2020 only. Now this next question is based on fall amivam or in short FAW. It was in news because the state of Tamil Nadu was affected by this and even the states like Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh had endured the menace of fall amivam. Now here four statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. Now in this if you see option C it mentions a spyware that exploited the vulnerability in WhatsApp. Now you know that this statement is talking about Pegasus so you can eliminate option C. Now this fall amivam was in news as its infestation resulted in crop loss of 20 crore in the state of Mizoram last year. So if you have heard about the news you can easily arrive at the option which is option B. It mentions that an polyfagus pest that caused damages to maize plantation in India. See this fall amivam's scientific name is Spodoptera It is an insect when fully grown. It is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Americas and it is an invasive species. And more importantly the larval stage of this fall amivam causes more damage because it feeds on more than 80 plant species including maize, rice, sorghum, millet, vegetable crops, cotton etc. And that is why it got the name fall amivam because it causes damages at the larval stage. Actually it is a caterpillar not a worm. Now here the word polyfagus means it feeds on many different species of plants which we just saw and it can also produce on many different species of plants. And this means it can rapidly spread across many environments and cropping systems and it is not restricted by any diet. Now this infestation is a big problem because it poses threat to the food security. It was first detected in the Central and West Africa in the early 2016 but if you see end of July 2018 it was detected in Yemen and in India and it was the first occurrence in Asia. And after that it was detected in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, China and then very recently in March 2020 it has been detected in Timor Liste. So this means that this FAW is a dangerous trans boundary pest with a high potential to spread continually due to its natural distribution capacity and it also spreads due to its flying ability and sometimes it is even unintentionally passed on through the produce in an international trade also. Now with respect to India this FAW was first identified in Karnataka. Now when we talk about such kind of infestations you should remember about the integrated pest management activities or in short IPM. It is an integrated strategy of pest control which aims at prevention of pests and its damage through a combination of techniques such as the combination of chemical biological techniques then new cropping system then modification of cultural practices then also through mechanical methods etc. And one such measure is the use of pheromone traps because pheromones are the chemicals used by insects and other animals to communicate with each other. So insects send these chemical signals to help attract mates and also to warn about the predators and even to find food. So this pheromone trap helps to lure the insects and pests. These pheromone traps are used for the monitoring purposes of FAW and not for controlling the pest. Once it is known that FAW is present in a region then immediately appropriate integrated pest management measures can be taken. So remember that pheromone traps is related to luring of insects and pests it is particularly related to FAW. Now this question is based on government schemes and projects related to women development especially also the safety and security aspect. Now in this the swadhar-grahe scheme was in news as it found the lack of security and unhygienic living conditions at the rehabilitative homes for women which are built under the swadhar-grahe scheme and this scheme is a scheme for women in difficult circumstances that is the scheme envisages providing shelter, food, clothing and health as well as the economic and social security for women. It targets the women victims of difficult circumstances who are in need of institutional support for the rehabilitation so that they could lead their life with dignity and this scheme can be availed by women who are in difficult circumstances like the survivors of natural disasters, then prisoners who are released from jail, then victims of domestic violence and even the rescued trafficked women or girls. So the first pair is correct and it is a centrally sponsored scheme. Now since pair one is correct you can eliminate option C because the question asked for the correctly matched pairs only. Now the second pair is Ujjavala prevention of trafficking of women. Now don't confuse this scheme with Ujjvala scheme because Ujjvala scheme or the Pradhan Mantri Ujjvala Yojna is a scheme of Ministry of Petroleum natural gas which provides LPG connections to women who belong to the below poverty line households. Now this is a Ujjjavala scheme there is slightly a spelling difference so while marking the statements don't get confused. This pair is also correctly matched this scheme envisages the prevention of illicit trafficking and it is also for the rescuer rehabilitation of victims who were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and this scheme is also a centrally sponsored scheme. Now here we have also given you the main components of this scheme you can take a note of it. Now the next pair is Mahila e-heart. Now this Mahila e-heart is a direct online marketing platform so this is also the correct pair. This scheme envisages to facilitate entrepreneurship opportunities online for women. The objective of this scheme is to educate women on various aspects of online selling and also for helping them to establish their own ventures. It is an initiative for women across the country as a part of Digital India and Stand Up India initiatives. So remember that the scheme for women which is related to Digital India and Stand Up India initiative is the Mahila e-heart and this is an online platform which has been set up by the Ministry of Women and Child Development under Rajstri Mahila Kosh. Now the last scheme is Sakhi. This Sakhi scheme is also known as One Stop Centres scheme. The scheme provides for establishment of One Stop Centres which are intended to support women who are affected by violence. They could be affected by violence in a private or public space or within the family or within the community or even at the workplace. So this pair is also correctly matched. So the correct answer to this question is option D all the above. Now these are the objectives of the scheme and it is also a centrally sponsored scheme. Now remember that all these schemes are part of Ministry of Women and Child Development. So in this question we saw four schemes which are related to women. Now let us take the next question. Now this next question asks, repeal the eight and save the eight phrases that recently appeared in the news in the context of the affairs of which of the following countries. Four countries are given Israel, China, Ireland, Bolivia. Now remember that this phrase is related to the Eighth Amendment of the Ireland Constitution and it is related to abortion, referendum and legislation of Ireland. Now this was in news because there were anti-abortion protests and there were also campaign for free, safe, legal and local abortion in the month of September 2019. So the correct answer to this question is option C Ireland. Now for an understanding let us see about the Eighth Amendment of Ireland Constitution. It recognizes the right to life of unborn child and therefore it bans abortion. This Eighth Amendment prohibited abortion in almost all cases and remember that Ireland is one of the few countries in the world which protects the unborn but few years back the Ireland Constitution was amended to allow women to travel to other countries to have an abortion and it is said that around 170,000 women traveled mostly to Britain to seek abortion after the amendment. Then in the year 2013 the protection of life during pregnancy act was legislated in Ireland to allow for abortions if the mother's life is immediately threatened. Now this was the case until 2008. So now you may have a question, what is this? Repeal the Eighth, save the Eighth. These are the campaigns by two groups, one which is supporting the abortion and the other group is against the abortion. This campaign surfaced when the abortion referendum bill was in place. So you can imagine that the pro-abortion campaigners were pushing to repeal the Eighth Amendment on the grounds that Ireland's abortion laws are among the most restrictive in Europe. But those who are against abortion, they want to retain it. They argue that human life encompasses the stages from conception to death. But if you see now the status of this Eighth Amendment is that it has been repealed in 2018 after a referendum was conducted. In this referendum around 66% of citizens of Ireland voted in support of abortion and therefore an abortion legislation was enacted. So as of now British women are able to access a termination within the first 12 weeks of their pregnancy. Now here you should remember the recent medical termination of pregnancy amendment bill of 2020 which was introduced by Indian parliament. This new bill seeks to extend the upper limit for permitting abortions. It will be increased from 20 weeks to 24 weeks for special categories of women and it will be increased to 20 weeks for a normal person when opinion of one registered medical practitioner is needed. So try to relate these legislations. It will also help you to write a main's answer. Now let us take the next question. Now this question is based on school education quality index and this index was released in September only. This index was conceptualized and developed in 2019 only. It was developed to evaluate the performance of states and union territories in the Indian school education sector and the first statement states it was prepared, compiled and released by Ministry of Human Resource Development Government of India. No it is not. The first statement is wrong. It is released by Neethi Iyogh and it was developed through a collaborative process including key stakeholders such as Ministry of Human Resource and Development, the World Bank and some education sector experts also. Now since first statement is incorrect you can eliminate option A and D and based on the given options you can say statement 2 is correct because it is present in all the options. It is correct because this index has two categories outcomes and governance processes aiding outcomes and these two categories have major domains and they have around 30 critical indicators in total. Now let us see whether statement 3 is correct or not. Kerala has been ranked first in the overall performance among the states and union territories. Now this statement is wrong because this index has grouped the states and union territories into three groups. One is large states then small states and then union territories group and Kerala is at the top rank in overall performance among the best performing large states but whereas if you see Chandigarh has a score of 82.9 percentage and it is at the top rank among the top performing union territories. So comparing this course you can easily say that overall in India with respect to states and union territories Chandigarh is at the top rank but if the question would have been about the large states only then the statement would have been correct. Now also know that Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam are the best performing large states and Uttar Pradesh has been ranked last in the large states category. Now with respect to the small states category Manipur has been ranked as the top performer whereas Arunachal Pradesh has been ranked last in this category. Now with respect to union territories Lakshadeep ranks the last. Now this ranking has been provided by this index because it aims to bring an outcome focus to education policy by providing the states and union territories with a platform so that they can identify their strengths and weaknesses and they can undertake the required course corrections and policy interventions. So the correct answer to this question is option B2 only. Now this next question is based on Mukruti National Park. Two statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. First statement is it is a part of Nilgiri biosphere reserve. This statement is correct. This Mukruti National Park is situated in Tamil Nadu and it is located on the high altitudes of Nilgiri's and thus it is a part of Nilgiri biosphere reserve and also a part of Western Guards. And remember that Nilgiri biosphere reserve is the first such biosphere reserve formed in India and this biosphere reserve's portion extends over the states of Kerala and Karnataka also. Now this Mukruti National Park was in news because there was an increase in the population of Nilgiri Thar in this national park. So that means second statement is also correct. The population was increased to 612 in 2019 when compared to the 568 in 2018. Now from examination point of view you should know some critical details about this Nilgiri Thar. Remember that the Nilgiri Thar is endemic to Western Guards and they are endemic to southern portion of Western Guards especially in the state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. And also know that the Aravikulam National Park which is located in Kerala has the highest population of Nilgiri Thar and as we just saw large population of Nilgiri Thar is now also found in Mukruti National Park. And additionally remember that it is the state animal of Tamil Nadu and it can be seen in steep rocky cliffs. Now for your reference we have also given another Thar species which is found in India. It is the Himalayan Thar and it is fragmentally distributed in the western and central Himalayas from the unitary of Jammu and Kashmir to the state of Sikkim. And you can see the protection status here. Nilgiri Thar is an endangered species and both are placed in Schedule 1 of Pilate Protection Act of 1972. Now you can remember this like Mukruti National Park is a Nilgiri biosphere reserve and it has large population of Nilgiri Thar. Now let us take the next question. This next question is based on indigent project. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. See this indigent program or project aims to undertake whole genome sequencing of thousands of individuals who are presenting diverse ethnic groups from India. So that means statement 2 is correct. Now the objective of this project is to create a pilot data set to enable genetic epidemiology of carrier genetic diseases towards enabling affordable carrier screening approaches in India. The human genome data sets will also be utilized for prioritizing pharmacogenomics variant specific for Indian population. See here the pharmacogenomics is a branch of genetics that is concerned with determining the likely response of an individual to the therapeutic drugs. This is for optimizing the therapy and for minimizing the adverse events. And this project is funded by CSIR that is Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and as we know it functions under the Ministry of Science and Technology and CSIR initiated indigent project in 2019 and it is now being implemented by the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology or in short IGIB Delhi together with CSIR Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology Hyderabad that is the CCMB. So that means first statement is also correct. So what is the use of such a project? See the ability to decode the genetic blueprint of humans through whole genome sequencing will be a major driver for biomedical science. The benefits of this initiative include epidemiology of genetic diseases to enable cost effective genetic tests, then carrier screening applications for expectant couples which means that tests can be used to determine whether healthy person carries a genetic variant that could be passed on to their potential future child or children. Then it will also help to enable efficient diagnosis of heritable cancers and it will help to do the pharmacogenetic tests to prevent the adverse drug reactions as we saw already. So apart from this the project will also help in understanding the biological diversity of India and the sequenced genomes will enable in understanding and determining the unique genetic traits and the susceptibility and resilience to diseases. So that means from this benefits you can easily say that statement 3 is also correct because on a whole it also aims to generate data on genetic diseases and it wants to know how humans are susceptible and resilient to a particular disease. Here the question asks for the correct statement so the correct answer to this question is option D 1 2 and 3 since all the statements are correct. Now this next question is based on base erosion and profit shifting or in short B E P S and we have to choose the incorrect statements. The first statement is it refers to the phenomenon where companies shift their profits from lower tax jurisdictions to higher tax jurisdictions. This is the opposite of what is base erosion and profit shifting so this statement is wrong because this B E P S is a tax evading practice that is used by multinational companies. We know that a multinational company usually has one head office in a particular country and there will be one or more branch offices which is called as subsidiaries and they exist in other countries and ideally the company have to pay tax for the profit which they earn but what is happening is the multinational companies have developed certain strategies to avoid paying taxes by shifting their incomes or profits to their subsidiaries and these subsidiaries will be located in the low tax countries. So the multinational companies are actually exploiting the gaps and mismatches which exist between different countries tax systems. So here the profits are shifted from where it is generated to a low tax location or a no tax location where there is little or no economic activity. Now this practice is called as the base erosion and profit shifting because the tax base in one country is eroded and the profit is shifted to other countries. This strategy is mostly used by multinational digital companies and according to the organization for economic cooperation and development that is OECD the countries across the world lose around 100 to 240 billion dollars a year because of this BEPS and this amount is 4 to 10 percentage of the global corporate income tax revenue. Now this BEPS is a problem because it undermines the fairness and integrity of tax systems as the businesses that operate across borders use BEPS to gain a competitive advantage over the enterprises that operate at a domestic level and moreover when taxpayers see that multinational corporations avoid income tax then it will also undermine the voluntary compliance by the taxpayers and this practice mainly affects the developed and developing countries which rely mainly on corporate income tax. So that means second statement is incorrect because it states it is limited only to developing countries whereas it is affecting both developed and developing countries. So here the question asks for the incorrect statements and both these statements are incorrect so the correct answer to this question is both one and two. Now you may think whether there is any solution to this problem. Yes there is as a solution to this BEPS an inclusive framework on BEPS was initiated by OECD and G20 countries. This is actually a modern international tax framework to ensure profits are taxed where economic activity and value creation actually occur. Now through this framework over 135 countries are implementing 15 actions to tackle tax avoidance and to improve coherence of international tax rules. Now coming to India we know that India is not a member of OECD but India is a member of this framework which is the inclusive framework on BEPS and also remember that there was a previous question in 2016 based on this BEPS so whenever such kind of economic terms occur in news you should know what it is. Now let us take the next question. This question is based on nuclear weapon free zone. Five treaties are given and we have to match with the zones which are given on the right side. Now see nuclear weapon free zones are the agreements which intend to provide a legally binding framework to prohibit the use then the possession and also the deployment of nuclear weapons in a geographically defined zone. So in simple words we can say that a nuclear weapons free zone is a region in which countries commit themselves to not to manufacture or to acquire or to test or possess nuclear weapons but remember that a nuclear weapon free zone should not prevent the use of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes. Now this measure is an important disarmament measure to achieve a world that is free of nuclear weapons and when we talk about nuclear weapons free zones there are five treaties on regional nuclear weapon free zones and these are the five treaties and these treaties cover Latin America and the Caribbean the South Pacific Southeast Asia Africa and Central Asia. Now we have to just to see whether all these treaties are matched to the correct zone. Now the first treaty is Rara Tonga Treaty. See Rara Tonga is the largest island in the southern group of the Cook Islands which is present in the South Pacific Ocean. So if you know where this Rara Tonga is you can easily say whether it belongs to this zone or not. This is a correct pair and this treaty has another name which is the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty and it formalizes the NWFC in the South Pacific. Now the next treaty is Bangkok Treaty. We know that Bangkok is in the Asian continent but whether it is in Central Asia no it is in the Southeast Asia. So based on geography itself you can easily say that this pair is not correctly matched. This Bangkok Treaty of 1995 is also known as the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty and this treaty is a Nuclear Weapons Moratorium Treaty between 10 Southeast Asian member states which are under the auspices of ASEAN. So you have to remove pair two from the given options. If you remove two you will arrive at the correct answer which is option C-1, 3 and 4 only. The Pelindaba Treaty is correctly matched to Africa because this treaty is also known as the African Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty which establishes the NWFC in Africa and Pelindaba is a city in South Africa. Now the fourth one is Platel Elco Treaty. This Platel Elco is in the Mexico City so you can see that it is correctly matched to Latin America and this treaty of 1967 is also known as the Treaty for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. There is one other name to this treaty which is Opanal Treaty. Now the Semipalatinsk Treaty is incorrectly matched because the Semipalatinsk is the location where nine of the then Soviet Union's peaceful nuclear explosions were conducted and it is in Kazakhstan. So it is in the Central Asian region that is why this pair is incorrect. This treaty was framed in 2006. It is also known as the Treaty on Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in Central Asia and it prohibits Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajgistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan not to manufacture acquired destroyer versus nuclear weapons. Now this Semipalatinsk is known as Semi so that is why this treaty is sometimes also known as Treaty of Semi. Now apart from this when we talk about nuclear weapon free zones or status you should also remember about Mongolia because Mongolia itself declared itself as a nuclear weapon free state and it was later recognized internationally even by the United Nations General Assembly. Then there are some similar treaties like Antarctic Treaty, Sea Bed Arms Control Treaty and also the Outer Space Treaty which prohibits the use of nuclear weapons in Antarctica, the ocean floor and in the open space and the celestial bodies. So these are the information that you should know with respect to nuclear weapon free zone. Now this next question is based on an initiative known as Momentum for Change. The first statement is it recognizes innovative and transformative solutions that address both climate change and wider economic, social and environmental challenges. And the second statement is it is a United Nations initiative. This statement is correct. It is a UN initiative only which is spearheaded by the UN climate change secretariat. This initiative popularizes activities across the globe that are moving the world toward a highly resilient low carbon future. And this initiative recognizes innovative and transformative solutions and it addresses both climate change and wider economic, social and environmental changes also. So first statement is also correct. Also remember that these solutions are called as lighthouse activities. The solutions are some of the most practical, scalable and replicable examples of what the world is doing to tackle the climate change. So here the question asks for the correct statements. Both the statements are correct. So the correct answer is option C both one and two. Whenever there is some initiative regarding climate change, you should take a note of it because you can expect a question in the prelims examination. Now here we have given you some of other initiatives of UN to tackle climate change. The climate neutral now then Marrakech partnership for global climate action, then non-state actor zone for climate action. And just to know that all these initiatives supports and aims to implement the Paris Agreement of 2015. Now this next question is based on a report which is the travel and tourism competitiveness report of 2019. And we have to choose the correct statements. First statement is with reference to India. So whenever you see a report or index, try to know what is the rank of India and whether India has performed well or it has not performed well. Now this report is published by World Economic Forum and not by World Trade Organization. So statement two is incorrect and this report ranks countries according to the travel and tourism competitiveness index or in short TTCI. This index has four sub-index and they have pillars as you can see here. Each pillar has different indicators. Now according to this report India showed the greatest percentage improvement due to its overall TTCI score and this score has helped India to become the only lower middle income country in the top 35 ranks. So that means this statement is correct according to this report because India is ranked at the 34th position among the 140 countries which is ranked by this report. Now this report also commendably notes that India had the greatest improvements among the top 25 percentage of all countries that is ranked in this report. India stands out due to the combination of rich natural and cultural resources and also due to strong price competitiveness and this report notes that India has greatly improved in these indicators. So take a note of it. Now according to this report India accounts for the majority of South Asia's travel and tourism GDP and India remains the subregions most competitive travel and tourism economy also. So these are the information that you should know with respect to this report and also regarding the findings of this report with respect to India. Now from examination point of view also remember that the World Economic Forum also publishes the global gender gap index then global competitiveness report etc. Now this next question is about NIRVIC Scheme. See sometimes when you know the full form of these acronyms then you can easily answer the question. Now the full form of NIRVIC Scheme is NIRYAT RIN VIKAS YOJNA and all these are Hindi words. So kindly noted that NIRYAT means export in Hindi and RIN means loan or credit. So from the given options you can easily arrive at the correct answer which is option be a scheme which will facilitate higher credit disbursement to the exporters in India. So even though you don't know about the scheme if you know the full form and the actual meaning you can attempt the question and possibly you will get it right. So now let us see some facts about this scheme. Now before that the payments that needs to be made for exports are open to risk at all times and many reasons like political and economic changes may block or even sometimes delay payment for the goods that are exported. In addition to this the exporters have to face commercial risks of insolvency or default of buyers. So the exporters always face various risks. Now throughout the world each country has export credit insurance mechanisms which are designed to protect exporters from the consequences of the payment risks and it is also designed to enable the exporters to expand their overseas business without fear of loss. Now for this purpose in our country we have the export credit guarantee corporation or in short ECGC. This corporation is wholly owned by government of India and it functions under the administrative control of ministry of commerce and industry. Now this ECGC has over the years have designed different export credit risk insurance products to suit the requirements of Indian exporters and to suit the commercial banks which are extending export credit. Now one such product which was introduced by the union ministry of commerce and industry through this ECGC is this Niriath Rin Vikas Yojna or the Nirvik scheme. It was introduced in September 2019 only that is why we are seeing in this series and there is one another name for this scheme which is the export credit insurance scheme. The purpose behind announcing this scheme is that it will facilitate higher credit disbursement that is it will enhance loan availability and it will ease the lending process. This scheme provides for high insurance cover it also provides reduction in premium for small exporters and it also simplifies procedures for claiming the settlements. Now if the insurance cover is high then the exporters will benefit if they suffer from losses and if the premium is reduced for the small exporters then they only need to pay less premium amount for the insurance so that they can save some money. So these are some of the benefits of this scheme and according to the government of India the borrowers in gems jewelry and diamond sector will be largely benefited because of this scheme. So this was about the Nirvik scheme now the option A talks about the Nirveha fund and option C talks about a scheme by ministry of tribal affairs and this scheme is the mechanism for marketing of minor forest produce through minimum support price and the development of value chain of minor forest produce and the last option talks about the stride initiative we discussed about this initiative in our July series. Now let us take the next question. Next question is based on geography it is about Atlantic meridional overturning circulation or in short AMOC. Two statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. The first statement is AMOC is a large system of ocean currents that carry warm water from the tropics northwards into the north Atlantic. Now this statement is correct. This is the definition of AMOC. It is a large system of ocean currents and it is driven by differences in the water's density and the water density is based on the temperature and the salt content of the water. And also remember that this Atlantic meridional overturning circulation is also known as Atlantic conveyor belt. Now the Gulf Stream is a part of AMOC. In this picture you can see that the Gulf Stream takes warm water to the Arctic region. Now during this process some water evaporates. Now when salt water gets evaporated it leaves out the salt. So the salt content in the remaining water increases and when the salt content increases then the density of water increases and the density is further increased by cooling of water when it reaches the polar region. Now as a result of all these the cooler water sinks into deep ocean. Now the cold dense water slowly spreads southwards towards several kilometers below the surface and this process is called as the thermohaline circulation or the meridional overturning circulation. Now in this thermohaline thermo means temperature and haline means salt. Now a part of thermohaline circulation which is happening in Atlantic ocean is the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Now after this what happens is it comes to the surface in upfilling regions. Now this cold water takes the heat and it becomes warm and then it again moves to the polar regions and thus it completes the circulation. Now this process is important because it makes sure that the world's oceans are continually mixed and this also ensures that heat and energy are distributed around the earth and it also aids in absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon also. Now in the recent times what is happening is due to global warming the heat is transferred to deep oceans. The global warming also increases the precipitation and it causes melting of ice caps. Now all these changes make the ocean water lighter and it reduces the sinking of water in the conveyor belt. Now this leads to a weaker Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. Now this weakening will have a profound impact on global climate system. But the recent studies have found that the rising temperatures in the Indian Ocean can help to strengthen the amok and it will delay its slowdown and this was the news in September and that is why we are discussing it in this series. We know that Indian Ocean is one of the fingerprints of global warming and the warming in the Indian Ocean generates additional precipitation. Now this draws more air from other parts of the world including the Atlantic also. Now this leads to reduced precipitation in the Atlantic. Hence the salinity of water increases. Now this saline water in the Atlantic moves to the north with the Gulf Stream. Now this saline water will get cold much quicker than the usual and it will sink faster and this will act as a start for amok and thus it also intensifies the circulation. So in simpler terms we can say that the warming of Indian Ocean strengthens the weakening of amok. So that means statement 2 is incorrect because it mentions that the warming of Indian Ocean weakens the amok. Rather it strengthens the weakening amok. And here question asks for the correct statement. So the correct answer to this question is option A 1 only. Now this next question is about UNESCO Creative Cities Network or in short UCCN. Now just know that this network was created in 2004. Its objective is to promote cooperation within the cities and among these cities. The cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development are recognized by this network. And currently there are 246 cities in this network and they work together towards the common mission that is placing creativity and the creative economy at the core of their urban development plans to make cities safe resilient inclusive and sustainable. And this mission is in line with the SDG 11 which is about sustainable cities and communities. And also know from examination point of view that the cities are recognized under seven categories which are given here. Now the question is no city from India has been designated as creative city under the literature category of UCCN. Now know that so far five cities from India have been recognized by UCCN. Two were recognized in 2015. One was recognized in 2017 and two were recognized in just 2019. And these cities are Jaipur, Varanasi, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad. So just five cities only you can remember them easily. And as you can see none of these cities are from the category literature. So that means first statement is correct. Now the second statement is recently Hyderabad and Jaipur were designated as creative cities. Now see both have been recognized as creative cities but did it happen recently? No Jaipur was recognized in 2015 itself but Hyderabad and Mumbai were added to UCCN in November 2019 only and they have been recognized under the film category and the gastronomy category. See here gastronomy is related to the art of food. So the correct answer to this question is option A one only because the question asks for the correct statement. Now also remember that Jaipur city was also granted the status of world heritage site by UNESCO in 2019 under the cultural category and it was the last added heritage to this world heritage list. It was added in 2019 only. So remember this fact also. Now let us take the next question. Now this next question is about Parker solar probe. This probe was launched into space in August 2018 and it was in news in September as it finished some of its phases. Now this mission aims to probe the outer corona of the sun and we know that corona is the outermost atmosphere of sun. So that means statement one is correct and there is one another importance to this mission that is it will become the closest ever spacecraft to sun as it will fly through the sun's atmosphere as close as 3.8 million miles to the sun's surface and it will be more than seven times closer than any spacecraft that has come before. So this means statement two is also correct. Now know that this mission is a part of NASA's living with the star program that explores different aspects of the sun earth system. So in the third statement you can say that half is correct. NASA is involved. Now what this mission will do is the Parker solar probe will employ a combination of in situ measurements and imaging to increase our understanding of the corona and it will also expand our knowledge of the origin and evolution of the solar wind also. But the primary goal of this mission is to understand the science of sun. It aims to trace how energy and heat move through the solar corona and it aims to explore what accelerates the solar wind as well as the solar energetic particles. So for this purpose the probe has four instruments on board that are designed to study magnetic fields plasma and energetic particles and also to image the solar wind. Now the third statement states it is a joint mission of European Space Agency and NASA. Now this statement is incorrect because this Parker solar probe is a mission of NASA only. It is not a joint mission but there is one another joint mission of European Space Agency and NASA with respect to sun. It is the solar orbiter mission. The solar orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA and NASA and it will address a central question of heliophysics that is how does the sun create and control the constantly changing space environment throughout the solar system and the solar orbiter will be the first satellite to provide close-up views of the sun's polar regions. So you can remember that solar orbiter will give the first close-up views of sun's polar region. So NASA's mission with respect to sun is Parker solar probe and the joint mission of NASA and ESA with respect to sun is solar orbiter and here the question asks for the correct statements and the correct answer is option B one and two. Now this next question is about the reports or indices released by NETIO. The question asks which of the reports is not released by NETIO. Now we know that NETIO is the premier policy think tank of Government of India and it provides directional and policy inputs and remember from examination point of view that Prime Minister of India is the chairperson of NETIO and the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance etc. are the ex-officio members of NETIO. Now these are the indices which are released by NETIO. Now from this you can see that National Institutional Ranking Framework is not released by NETIO rather it is released by Ministry of Human Resource Development. It was launched by MHRD in 2015 and this framework outlines a methodology to rank institutions across our country. So the correct answer to this question is option C. Now let us also see briefly about these indices. Now this SDG India index is created to comprehensively document the progress made by Indian states and union territories towards achieving the SDG targets and this next one is India Innovation Index. It is for the continual evaluation of innovation environment of the states and the union territories and also to identify the challenges that needs to be addressed. Now this School Education Quality Index we already saw in this discussion what it is about. Now this next one is Composite Water Management Index. This index is to bring a sense of data upkeep and water conservation in various aspects of water usage in the states and union territories of our country. Now this state health index is to measure the annual performance of states and union territories on a variety of indicators such as health outcomes, governance and processes and then this one district hospital index is to track the performance of district hospitals based on outcomes and the final one is state energy index. It is to compare energy accessibility affordability and sustainability across all the Indian states and union territories. So you can see that NETIOG releases various indices in different sectors. Now moving on to the 21st question of this series. This question is based on the Indian State of Forest report of 2019. The question asks this report provides information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, India's carbon stocking etc. Consider the following statements with reference to the findings of the report. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct statements. Now see first know that this report is published by Forest Survey of India because Forest Survey of India has been mandated to assess the forest and the tree resources of our country in a biennial cycle and this 2019 report is the 16th report so far. Now here the first statement states Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover area wise in the country. Now this statement is correct according to the findings of this report Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover area wise. It is followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra as you can see here but also know that when it comes to forest cover as percentage of total geographical area then in this scenario the top five states are Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland and according to this report the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are the top three states which have showed increase in forest area and remember that the total forest and tree cover of our country is 80.73 million hectares according to this report and this amounts to 24.56 percentage of the geographical area of our country. Now since first statement is correct you can eliminate option B. Now the second statement is mangrove cover has decreased in the country. Now this statement is incorrect because according to this report mangrove cover has increased. The total mangrove cover in our country is 4975 square kilometer and it has been increased by 54 square kilometer compared to the 2017 findings and according to this report the top three states which are showing mangrove cover increase are the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Odisha but still remember that mangrove cover is the highest in West Bengal and it is followed by Gujarat. So second statement is incorrect so you can eliminate option D also. Now the third statement is Gujarat has the largest area of wetlands within recorded forest area in the country. Now according to this report amongst these states Gujarat has the largest area of wetlands within recorded forest area in the country and it is followed by West Bengal. So this statement is correct so the correct answer to this question is option C 1 and 3 only. Now also remember that according to this report there has been a decrease of forest cover in the northeastern region of our country and there are only two exceptions which are the states of Assam and Tripura. All the other states in northeastern region have shown decrease in forest cover. Now let us take the next question. Next question is also based on a report which is the commodities and development report of 2019. The question asks which of these institutions released this report. Now the correct answer to this question is option C United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and this report was released in September only and this 2019 edition is titled as commodity dependence climate change and the Paris Agreement. This report highlights the challenges which the commodity dependent and development countries face in the light of Paris Agreement. It states that the commodity dependent developing countries may face challenges as they manage their natural resources sector because of the Paris Agreement. So based on this this report also explores some potential benefits that might arise from climate change, mitigation and adaptation. Now these are some of the other reports which are released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Now let us take the next question. Now this question is based on global alliance for vaccines and immunization or in short GAVI. Now GAVI was in news in September because the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Ms. Sheikh Hasina Wazid was awarded the second ever vaccine hero award by GAVI. She was recognized for championing immunization both nationally and globally. Now this vaccine hero award celebrates global figures whose dedication to vaccine alliances mission has played a key role in helping GAVI and its partners to protect hundreds of millions of children across the world. So GAVI has said that the Prime Minister of Bangladesh has been instrumental in helping Bangladesh to introduce new vaccines and also to maintain basic immunization coverage at an 97 percentage which is quite an impressive one. Now remember that this award was instituted in 2018 only and in 2019 the second award was given. The first award in 2018 was given to an Indian businessman Dr. Cyrus Punawala. He is the founder of Serum Institute of India and also the chairman of Punawala Group. He was the first person to receive this vaccine hero award given by GAVI. In this context remember that the Serum Institute of India was established in 1966 and it is one of the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume. Now let us take this question. The first statement is it is an international organization created to improve access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world's poorest countries. Now this statement is correct. This is the main mission of GAVI and GAVI is an international organization that was created in 2000 and it is a global health partnership of public and private sector organizations that is dedicated to immunization for all. So this GAVI brings together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children who are living in the world's poorest countries. And at present GAVI vaccinate almost half of the world's children. Now the second statement is it is a joint initiative of United Nations Development Program and the World Health Organization. This statement is incorrect because the core partners of GAVI are World Health Organization, UNICEF, World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. UNDP is not involved in this alliance. Apart from these partners GAVI also works with donors including sovereign governments, private sector foundations and corporate partners, NGOs, vaccine manufacturers etc. So the correct answer to this question is option A because the question asks for the correct statements. This next question is based on tribes. On one side tribes are given and the other sides the states where they reside has been given and we have to choose the correct pairs. Now one of these tribes which is the Wancho tribe was in news because a linguistic student developed a script for Wancho language and the student took 12 years to script the language. Apart from this the student also got the script enlisted in the US-based Unicode Consortium for online use. This means that the language can now be used on internet across the world. Now the first pair is Wancho and Nachal Pradesh. This is the correct pair. The Wancho tribes majorly inhabit in the Longding and Tirap districts of Unmachal Pradesh. The Wancho tribes are culturally Nagas but they are ethnically related to the Nocte and Konyak Naga tribes of Mon district and Tirap district and the Wancho language which we just discussed belongs to the Tibetoburman family. Now the Wancho tribe people are known for tattooing and the prime festival of Wanchos is Oraya. It is celebrated between March to April for a period of 6 to 12 days with prayers, songs and dances and in this festival villagers also exchange bamboo tubes filled with rice beer as a mark of greeting and goodwill. Now with respect to the Wancho language you should know that the UNESCO's Atlas of World Languages in Danger has listed this language as a vulnerable language. Now since this pair is correct you can eliminate option B and C. Now the second pair is Bodo or Bodo from Assam. This is a correct pair you would have heard about this tribe many times in news and recently even the Bodo Accord was signed. It is a correct pair because the Bodo's are the earliest settlers in Assam. Now to know more about the Bodo Accord you can view our 28th January news analysis where we have discussed about this accord in detail. The second pair is also correct. Now the third pair Galo, Andaman and Nicobar islands. Now this pair is incorrect because Galo tribe belongs to the state of Arnachal Pradesh only they do not belong to Andaman and Nicobar islands. The larger sections of Galo's are found in the West Siyang and East Siyang districts of Arnachal Pradesh and their main festival is Mopin and it is celebrated in the month of April for prosperity and wealth and this festival lasts for four to five days and the society of Galo tribe is patriarchal and patrilineal with strong clan organization system. So the correct answer to this question is option A 1 and 2. Now from examination point of view whenever we discuss about any tribe you should first know that whether that tribe is a particularly vulnerable tribal group or not. Now all these three tribes are not PVTGs or particularly vulnerable tribal groups and all these three belong to the North Eastern region of India. Now to remember which of the tribes have been categorized as PVTGs you can use one small trick that is only two tribes from two states in the North Eastern region of India have been categorized as PVTGs. The two states are Manipura and Tripura and the two tribes are Maramnagar tribe of Manipura and then the Riyang tribe of Tripura. So other than these two whichever tribes is given in the question they are not categorized as PVTGs. Now for your reference here we have also given you the list of tribes that live in Andhra Mara and Nicobar islands and their population as per the 2011 census and we have also given which of these tribes have been categorized as PVTGs. Now let's take the next question. Now this next question is also based on an alliance which is the Turtle Survival Alliance. Now this alliance was in news because it was a part of a joint program which involved wild restocking of two turtle species. The two turtle species are black soft shell turtles and Indian soft shell turtles. These two species which breed in the ponds of two temples in Assam were collected and they were bred in captivity and later they were reintroduced in the wild in the Popetora wildlife sanctuary which is situated in the state of Assam and this process is called as wild restocking and this joint program involved the Assam forest department and the turtle survival alliance and also an NGO called as Hell Earth. This wild restocking program is an important measure for sustaining the turtles in the Brahmaputra river system. Now from examination point of view know that the black soft shell turtle is categorized as extant in the wild by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Now this alliance was formed in 2001 as an IUCN partnership for sustainable captive management of freshwater turtles and tortoises. So that means statement two is correct it is involved in the protection of freshwater turtles and tortoises. The first statement states it is an organ of United Nations Environment Program. It is incorrect because until 2008 this alliance functioned within the IUCN structure. See this alliance was created because there was a rampant and unsustainable harvest of Asian turtle populations to supply the Chinese markets. This situation was known as the Asian turtle crisis and in response to this the turtle survival alliance was formed and this alliance also develops breeding programs for some species of turtles and tortoises that are unlikely to survive without well managed populations other than the freshwater turtles and tortoises. Now in the IUCN structure it was recognized as a task force of the tortoise and freshwater turtle specialist group but at present the turtle survival alliance is a not-for-profit organization which is based out of USA and it is a globally recognized force for turtle conservation. Now these are the conservation actions taken by turtle survival alliance restoring tortoise and turtle populations in the wild wherever possible then securing species and captivity through assurance colonies. Here assurance colonies are the global network of linked breeding programs and then the third action is the building of capacity to restore secure and conserve species within their range country itself. So these are some of the actions taken by turtle survival alliance. Now with this question we have finished the first half of the series let us begin the second half. This question is about consumer food price index. The first statement is CFPI is released by national statistical office ministry of statistics and program implementation. This statement is correct. The CFPI for all India rural urban and combined is released by NSO only and even the consumer price index that is CPI for all India rural urban and combined on a monthly basis is released by NSO. Now we know that CPI indicates the average change in the prices of commodities at the retail level that is it indicates the inflation rate at the retail level. So CPI is a measure of change in retail prices of goods and services which is consumed by defined population group in a given area with reference to the base year. And as you know there are three types of CPI. One is CPI urban then CPI rural and then CPI combined and the CPI has all these six components and just know that out of all these components the food and beverage component has the highest weightage. Now the second statement in the question is CFPI measures the change in retail price of items under the food and beverage component of consumer price index. Now this statement is incorrect because CFPI measures the change in retail price of food products with reference to a base year but it does not cover all the items coming under the food and beverage component of CPI. The food and beverage component has 12 items or 12 subgroups and CFPI excludes two items these last two items which is the non-alcoholic beverage and then the prepared male snacks sweets etc. So keep this point in mind. Here the question asks for the incorrect statement so be careful before marking the correct answer. Here the correct answer to this question is option B2 only. This question is also a very direct question it is about global infrastructure facility. Two statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. See this global infrastructure facility or GIF is a partnership among governments multilateral development banks private sector investors and financiers and its main purpose is to prepare structure and implement the complex projects which a single institution cannot manage so that means first statement given here is correct. So this global infrastructure facility is focused on banking infrastructure projects which have the potential to mobilize private investment or in short we can say that it is a big institution with experts to fund very big projects. This GIF gathers money from funding partners as well as from private investors from the market and on a whole this GIF consists of funding partners technical and advisory experts. The technical advisory experts bring bankable infrastructure projects to the market and as it is obvious the funding partners provide financial assistance and here you can see the funding partners there are five countries and then the World Bank Group. Now if you look at the second statement it mentions it is an initiative of IMF and World Bank. This statement is incorrect because it is the initiative of only World Bank not the IMF. So the correct answer to this question is option A one only since the question asks for the correct statement. Now also know that in India this global infrastructure facility is supporting two projects one is solar parks program of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and then second one is Rajasthan State Highways Development Project. Now let us take the next question. Now this next question is based on Indian culture it is about the Shondal dance. Now this Shondal dance was in news because it created history by breaking the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest Ladakhi dance in 2019. So this is a Ladakhi dance it is obvious from the statement and the performance of this Guinness record was held on the concluding day of annual Buddhist carnival which is known as Naropa festival and it happened in year the Hemis Monastery. Now just know that this Hemis Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery which is present in Ladakh and it is situated on the west banks of industry. Now this question asks it is the traditional dance of Ladakh performed for the king of Ladakh. This statement is a correct statement it is the traditional dance of Ladakh which used to be performed by artists for the king of Ladakh on special occasion and the Shondal is performed by Takshosma women dancers who are the dancers of royal court. They perform this dance to praise and to greet the king and his family. So first statement is correct now just know that the Guinness record Shondal dance had a theme which is the environment sustainability of Ladakh and the Himalayan region. Now here the second statement is it has been recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. This statement is incorrect. As we discussed in the July series so far there are 13 intangible cultural heritage of humanity from India as recognized by UNESCO and also know that there is one intangible cultural heritage from Ladakh which is the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh or the recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh region. It was given the status of intangible cultural heritage status in the year 2012 and the very recent intangible cultural heritage from India is the Kumbh Mela which was granted this status in the year 2017. Now just know that there are three dances in this list what is the Sankirtana dancing of Manipur then Chow dance and then Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan. So here the correct answer to this question is option A one only. This next question is about the global fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria or in short GFATM. Now this global fund was in news because India announced a contribution of 22 million US dollars to this global fund. Actually India shares a sustained relationship with this global fund since 2002 and we donate money and also receive money at the same time from this fund. Now the first statement in this question is it is a global public partnership fund. Now this statement is incorrect because it is a public private partnership fund that has been designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. So it is an international organization and this global fund mobilizes and invests more than four billion US dollars per year to support the programs which is run by local experts in more than 100 countries. And if you see the 93 percentage of the money comes from the donor governments and the 7 percentage comes from private sector and foundations and that is why it is a public private partnership fund not just a public partnership fund. So this statement is incorrect. Now the second statement is it was created to meet the sustainable development goal target of ending the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria by 2030. Now even though this target is also talking about the three diseases this fund was not created to meet the SDG target. The target which is mentioned in this question is the target 3.3 which is by 2030 end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, waterborne diseases and other communicable diseases. And as we know it comes under SDG target number three which is nothing but ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This statement is incorrect because we know the SDG targets came into being in 2015 only but this fund was created in 2002 itself in order to respond to these three deadliest diseases which are preventable and treatable. And according to this global fund as of the end of 2018 the health program supported by this fund partnership have saved 32 million lives and it also says that on an overall the number of deaths caused by these three deadliest diseases each year has been reduced by 40 percentage since the year 2002 especially in the countries where this global fund invests. So the correct answer to this question is option D neither one nor two because the question asks for the correct statements and both the statements are incorrect. Now our 30th question is a geography based question. The question asks us to arrange these places in Indian Ocean as we proceed from East to West. Now one common thing among these places is that you would have heard in news about these places with respect to naval ports and bases in Indian Ocean. Now such kind of question is important because we have been hearing always that there is a rising Chinese influence in Indian Ocean. Now as you know the first one Djibouti is a country located in the Horn of Africa and you would have heard in news about this country with respect to its naval bases as US, France, Japan, Italy and China have naval bases in Djibouti. Now the next one given is Assumption Island. This island is in Sechelis. It lies close to Madagascar and Tanzania. Now you would have heard about this island because India and Sechelis agreed to build naval facilities in Assumption Island but this plan hit a roadblock as the Sechelis parliament refused to ratify this plan. Now the next one given is Dukam which is a port city in Oman and as we know it lies at the opening of Persian Gulf and you would have heard about this Dukam port because India and Oman signed an agreement which granted India to use Dukam port for logistics use and this port is closer to Gwadar and Chabahar ports so it is strategically important for India and as you know Gwadar is a port in Pakistan which is being developed by China under the China Pakistan economic corridor and Chabahar is a port in Iran which is being developed by India. So Dukam is strategically important for India to contain China's influence in Indonesia. Next one is Changi. It is a port city in Singapore and it lies near to the major shipping lanes in Southeast Asia like the Malacca Strait. Hence this port is also important from geopolitical point of view and even recently India got access to this strategic port for logistics and refuelling purposes. So in these maps you can see all the four ports and if you know that the Changi port is in Singapore then you can easily say it should be in the eastern side. So from this you can easily arrive at the option because we have to arrange it in east to west so Changi should be in fourth position which you can find in option four. The correct answer is four three two one which is Changi, Dukam, Assumption Island and then Djibouti. Now let us take the next question. This next question is about green skill development program. See this program aims at the development of green skills. Green skills contribute to preserving or restoring environmental quality for sustainable future and it includes jobs that protect ecosystem and biodiversity and the jobs which reduce energy and which minimizes waste and pollution and this program was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for skill development in the environment sector and in the forest sector. So that means second statement is incorrect. It is not implemented by Ministry of Skill Development and the first half of the first statement is correct. Now this program will generate more employment opportunities for India's youth. It will also develop green skilled workers who are having technical knowledge and who will be having commitment to sustainable development. So this will in turn help us to achieve the nationally determined contributions that is NDCs, then sustainable development goals and then national biodiversity targets and as well as the waste management rules. So first statement is correct. Also remember that these are the fields which are covered by this program such as pollution monitoring, sewage treatment plant, mangroves conservation, etc, etc and all the courses under this program will be compliance of national skills qualifications framework and at the end the Ministry will also give certificates indicating these skill levels to all the successful candidates. Now here the question asks for the incorrect statements so the correct answer for this question is option B2 only. Be careful while marking the correct answer. Let us take the next question. Gold schmidite recently seen in news is what among these following and indigenous anti-collution technology for improving rail safety and asteroid exploration mission by ISRO, a new mineral discovered from earth mantle or a new isotope of gold. The correct answer to this question is option C because a team of geologists have discovered a previously unknown mineral in a diamond from a volcanic site in South Africa. The team has found a dark green opaque mineral within the diamond as you can see in this picture. This mineral has been named gold schmidite. This name has been given in the honor of Norwegian geochemist Victor Moritz Goldschmidt and the findings have been published in the journal called as American Mineralogist in the month of September 2019. Now the geologists believe that this diamond was formed at 170 kilometer underground in the earth's mantle. Now specifically if you see it was formed in the upper portion of the mantle that extends up to 400 kilometer underground which is called as asthenosphere. This asthenosphere is the main source of magma. See what happens is the intense pressure and heat in the asthenosphere transform the carbon deposits into sparkling diamonds and also the rocks trap other mantle minerals in their structures and during volcanic eruptions these minerals including diamond can be pushed to the planet's surface. Apart from this diamonds can also be found in the igneous rocks that line the volcanic pipe that is the pipe through which the molten lava erupts and in one such volcanic pipe only the geologists have found this diamond which contains an unknown mineral. Now by analyzing such mineral inclusions in the diamonds the scientists can understand the chemical processes that occur far beneath in the earth's crust. The geologists have noted that this mineral has peculiar chemical composition. It has high concentrations of niobium, potassium and the rare earth elements also like lanthanum and cerium whereas the rest of the mantle is dominated by other elements such as magnesium and iron. So the discovery of this mineral is new to scientists. So they believe that this discovery will give them an idea of the fluid processes that affects the deep roots of continents during diamond formation. So the correct answer is a new mineral discovered from the earth's mantle. Well let us take the next question. This question is a direct question. It asks about e-sanshit. Now first know that the full form of this e-sanshit is e-storage and computerized handling of indirect tax documents and this was launched on a pilot basis by central board of indirect taxes and customs or in short CBIC. See it was introduced by the government of India for import cargo so as to reduce physical interface between the customs and the clearing agents and thus it is expected that this will significantly reduce import clearance time as through this platform digitally signed documents can be uploaded. So this e-sanshit platform is mainly for paperless processing and for uploading of supporting documents then to facilitate the trading across borders which will reduce the precious time and it will provide digital easing. So that is why the correct answer is question is option C. IT infrastructure used for paperless processing under single window interface for facilitation of trade across borders. This next question is based on a report which is global nutrition report. See this global nutrition report acts as a report card on the world's nutrition not only globally but also regionally and by country by country basis and it is also a report card on efforts to improve nutrition. The first statement is it is published by food and agriculture organization in collaboration with UNICEF. This statement is incorrect because this report is produced by the independent export group of global nutrition report and WHO is a member in this group. The first report was published in 2014 and the last report was the global nutrition report of 2018. Now the second statement is based on the finding of this report. It mentions that India is among the countries with largest number of child stunting and child wasting. This statement is correct because India is among the three countries with the largest number of children who are stunted. We know that child stunting means low height for age and in India there are 46.6 million children who are stunted and the study also found that India is also among the three countries with the most children who are wasted. We know that child wasting is low weight for height and India has 25.5 million children who have low weight for height. Apart from this the report also found that anemia and stunting are the two forms of malnutrition burdens that exist in our country and it also found that 51.4 percentage of women in the reproductive age in our country are affected by anemia. Now apart from this we have also given you the global key findings for your reference. So the correct answer to this question is option B2 only. This next question is based on a topic which is most expected in prelims examination. It is based on the newly created post chief of defense staff. Two statements are given and we have to choose the incorrect statement. See as you know chief of defense staff has the rank of a four star general. He will head the department of military affairs which functions under the ministry of defense. Apart from this the CDS will also function as the secretary of this department of military affairs. Just remember that this department was created very recently in the month of February 2020 only. Now the first statement is CDS heads the ministry of defense. See this is a very simple statement. We know that a ministry is headed by the union minister. So this is an incorrect statement but in a hurry in the examination pressure you could think that this is a correct option. So be careful while reading the statements. Statement one is incorrect. The CDS will head department of military affairs and not the ministry of defense. Now the second statement is CDS is the principal military advisor to the minister of defense government of India on all tri services matters. Now this statement is correct. Apart from this the three chiefs of army navy and air force will also continue to advise the Rakshamantri that is the minister of defense on matters exclusively concerning their respective services and further what you have to remember is CDS will not exercise any military command including over the three service chiefs. He will provide impartial advice to the political leadership and remember that CDS will also be the permanent chairman of chief of staff committee. Now as the permanent chairman of chiefs of staff committee the CDS will perform these functions. So as a whole what you have to remember is this new post of CDS is a reform in the higher defense management and this would enable the armed forces to implement coordinated defense doctrines and procedures. Now here the question asks for the incorrect statement. So the correct answer to this question is option A1 only. This next question is about Mahanadi river basin. You know that Mahanadi river is one of the major rivers of Indian peninsula and it flows eastwards and rains into Bay of Bengal. Remember that Mahanadi river rises in the highlands of Chattisgarh especially in the Raipur district and it flows eastward through Odisha to reach the Bay of Bengal and the length of the river is nearly 860 kilometer and this news is often in news because it is one of the flood occurrence rivers in our country and as we know the famous Hirakut Dam which is the longest man-made earthen dam of the world was built across this great river only. Now the question asks which of the following states share river Mahanadi basin. Four options are given. Obviously two should be in answer so you can eliminate option A and just we saw that it flows eastward through Odisha to reach the Bay of Bengal. So three Odisha should also be there. Now know that the drainage basin is shared by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. According to NCRT 53 percentage of the drainage basin of this river lies in Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh itself while the 47 percentage lies in Odisha. So the correct answer to this question is option C 1 2 and 3. Now this next question is about national nutrition survey or the comprehensive national nutrition survey. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct statement. This survey was conducted between 2016 and 18 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF. So a part of first statement is correct and it is also the first ever nationally representative nutrition survey of children and adolescents in India. So first half of this statement is correct. Now this CNNS is a cross-sectional household survey which covers children and adolescents that is between the year 0 to 19 in both urban and rural areas across the states of our country. And this survey aims to measure malnutrition including worm infestation and micronutrient deficiency and this will be done through biochemical measures such as blood and urine samples. So that means first statement is correct. It measures malnutrition. Apart from this, this survey also measures anthropometric data such as weight for age, height for age, etc. And the survey also focuses on details of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, and kidney function in children and adolescents. And it also focuses on the prevalence of obesity or overweight and then muscular strength and fitness. Now the second statement of this question is it is different from national family health survey as NFHS collects data only up to five years of age whereas NNS collects data of children and adolescents up to 19 years of age. Now this statement is wrong because NFHS is not limited to under five children. It is a national survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India and it covers different groups such as child, adults, men and women, etc. So second statement is incorrect. So from that you can arrive at the correct answer to this question which is option B1 and 3. The statement 3 is as per this survey, Tablanado and Gova had the highest number of adolescents who are obese or overweight. This is one of the findings of this survey. Apart from this, we have also given you some other findings of this survey. You can have a look at it for your understanding. Now let us take the next question. Now this next question is based on exchange traded funds or in short ETF. It is a basket of securities that are traded on an exchange just like the stock. So that means first statement is correct. Now these ETFs are in many ways similar to mutual funds but ETFs are listed on stock exchanges and ETFs are traded throughout the day just like an ordinary stock. So ETFs can be bought or sold like stocks throughout the day and ETFs can contain all types of investments including stocks, commodities or bonds. Now these ETFs are gaining popularity because they are transparent, they are easy to use and they have a low cost way to create a well diversified portfolio. Now to know more about ETF, you can visit our December 5 Hindu News Analysis where we have explained in detail about ETFs. Now if you take the examples of ETFs, there are Bharat 22 ETF and Bharat Bond ETF. In this Bharat 22 was an equity fund which invests predominantly in equity share and related securities but whereas the Bharat bond is a debt fund which invests in fixed income securities. In this the Bharat 22 ETF was launched in 2014 and it is a fund which consists of 22 public sector companies which are listed on national stock exchange. So it has stocks of CPSCs, PSBs etc and such bonds have minimal credit risk and they are relatively safe to invest but whereas we see the Bharat Bond ETF it was very recently introduced and it is a basket of bonds issued by central public sector enterprises or undertakings or any other government organization bonds. And Bharat Bond ETF is the first corporate bond ETF in the country that is to be traded in the stock exchanges. That means statement two is also correct. It mentions that Bharat Bond ETF was launched by Government of India which is the first corporate bond ETF in the country. Here the question asks for the correct statement. So the correct answer to this question is both one and two. Now this next question is about Project Chaman. In this Chaman stands for Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management Using Geoinformatics. Now as this name suggests Chaman is about assessment of horticulture crops using geospatial tools and these tools include remote sensing GIS and field survey. So that means first statement is correct. Now the second statement is it is implemented by Mahal Nubis National Crop Forecast Center which is under Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. This statement is also correct. This center especially implements the remote sensing component of this project and just know that this center has been established under the Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare and it is established for application of space and geospatial technology in various domains of agriculture. So the correct answer to this question is option C both one and two. Also know that using these tools the area under horticulture crops is assist and the production quality is forecasted under this project. Now with the help of forecasting the required number of cold storages and other infrastructure can be made ready. So that means this would reduce the post harvest losses which are incurred by the farmers and thus it will increase farmers income. So that means it is in line with government's aim of doubling farmers income by the year 2022. Apart from this the project Chaman also helps to identify the best suited crops in the region and this information helps the farmers to choose the most suitable crop. Now apart from project Chaman there are also other government schemes which uses GIS and GPS tools for their effective implementation. For example the PM Fasal Bhima Yujna, then PM Krishi Sinchai Yujna, then Rashtriya Krishivikas Yujna etc. Now to remember that this project Chaman is related to horticulture you can use a small trick because Chaman in Hindi means small garden and we know that horticulture is the practice and art of garden cultivation and management. So just remember that Chaman means small garden so that you can easily eliminate the given options. Now let us take the next question. This next question is about the militias which are present in different countries Boko Haram Houthi group peoples protection units and on the other side the countries which they belong to have been given and you have to choose the correct pairs. The first pair is Boko Haram Nigeria. This is a correct pair because Boko Haram is a radical Islamist group in Nigeria. Initially it started against western education and later it became a full-fledged militia group even it launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state. This militia group wants to establish a state which is purely based on prophets teachings and through jihad. Now this Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it forbidden for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with the western society and this includes voting in elections wearing shirts and trousers or even receiving a secular education. So the first pair is correct. Now the second pair is Houthi group Lebanon. Now this Houthi group is also known as Houthi rebels. This is a wrong pair because it is a rebellion group in Yemen. The Arab spring of the Middle East caused transition of power in Yemen but this transition of power was not smooth. So because of this the rebel Houthi group took control of Yemen's north provinces including the country's national capital Sana. So you can eliminate option BND. Now the third pair is People's Protection Units Syria. This is a correct pair. This is a Kurdish militia in Syria. It was formed to protect and defend Kurdish inhabited areas in Syria and even in the recent years this militia group fought along US against the ISIS in Syria. So that means the correct answer to this question is option C 1 and 3. Now with respect to militia groups you can remember about the Salwar Judoom which belongs to India. It was mobilized and deployed as a part of anti insurgency operations in Chattisgarh and it was backed by Chattisgarh government because they were aimed at countering the nexalite violence in the region. But later the Supreme Court declared this group as illegal and unconstitutional. Supreme Court said that the deployment of tribal youths as special police officers either as Koya commandos Salwar Judoom or any other force in the fight against the Maoist insurgency is illegal and unconstitutional and Supreme Court ordered their immediate disarmament. Now let us take the next question. This question is about Bharat Bill Payment System or in short BBPS. The question asks BBPS is an integrated bill payment system in India offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers. Which of the following services is or are covered under BBPS? Now to answer this question first you should know what this BBPS is. It is an integrated online platform for utility bill payments. It was conceptualized by RBI and then it was developed by National Payments Corporation of India or in short NPCI. It offers integrated accessible and interoperable bill payment services to the consumers and it provides these services across geographies which contains certainty, reliability and safety of transactions. So this BBPS is a one-stop ecosystem for payment of all bills. So what are the bills? It covers repetitive payments for everyday utility services such as electricity, water, gas, telecom and DTH payments also that is direct-to-home payments and these services come under the biller participant in BBPS. We will see what do we mean by this biller later in the discussion. Now this platform provides an interoperable services for consumers through digital channels and through network of agents to do a bill payment at one place anytime anywhere. So what are the channels through which these services are offered? The different means which are used are network of agents or retail shops or bank branches and even some digital channels like internet banking of banks, the mobile app of banks etc are used and then it also allows multiple payment modes like card, UPI, other-enabled payment system, wallet, cash and it also provides instant confirmation. Now one important aspect of this BBPS is its key participants. The first key participant is the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit and as of now RBA has authorized NPCI to be the Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit. It is responsible for setting business standards, rules and procedures for technical requirements and business requirements for all the participants. The next participant is the Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit. It can be a bank or a non-bank which is authorized by RBA. Now this Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit may choose to integrate either with the customers or with the billers or even sometimes it may wish to participate as both. Which means such Bharat Bill Payment Operating Unit will be integrated with customers as well as billers. Now the next important participants are agents. Agents are the customer touch points and service points in the BBPS system. It is available in the form of agent outlets, business correspondent outlets, bank branches, collection centers, retail outlets and other service points and then one another important participant is the biller. The billers are the service providers who shall receive payments from customers for services rendered. Now by participating in this scheme the biller will be able to receive payments from third party channels for services provided to the customers and there are a category of billers in this BBPS system and these categories are specified from time to time by RBI and as we already saw electricity, telecom, DTH, gas and water are the service providers who come under this category of biller. But here if you see the given options it is municipal taxes, insurance premium, mutual funds, school fees, EMI's. Now here remember that until September 2019 only electricity, telecom, DTH, gas and water services were offered but in September 2019 RBI expanded the scope of BBPS to cover all repetitive bill payments which included school fees, insurance premiums, municipal taxes, mutual funds, EMI's. So as of now all these are covered under BBPS. So the correct answer to this question is option D12345. Now let us take the next question. This next question is based on Asian water development outlook. Three statements are given and we have to choose the correct statements. First know that this Asian water development outlook was initiated by the Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum and it is officially released by ADB only that is Asian Development Bank. So that means statement three is incorrect so you can eliminate option D. Now the objective of this outlook is to highlight the important water management issues in the Asia and also in the Pacific region and its first edition was published in 2007 which underlined the need to address water security with a broader perspective. The second edition was published in 2013, it provided the first quantitative and comprehensive view of water security in the countries of Asia and the Pacific. Now this 2013 second edition developed a few indicators of water security which you can see here and the recent edition is the third edition of 2016. This edition has refined the indicators which were developed for 2013 edition in order to provide a more reliable assessment of water security in the region. So that means statement two is also correct it highlights water security issues in Asia and Pacific region as well. Now the first statement is based on the findings of this report or the projections of this report. This report has mentioned that by the year 2050 the groundwater use in the region will increase by 30 percentage and also by the year 2015 China India and Pakistan will account for 86 percentage of total groundwater abstraction in the region. Here abstraction means nothing but the extraction of water. Now apart from this this 2016 third edition also mentions that by the year 2050 India will be one of the countries with the lowest per capita water availability and the Asia and the Pacific is the global hotspot for water insecurity. It mentions that within the Asia and the Pacific region India and China will be the regional hotspots for water stress due to their massive populations. So that means first statement is correct. Now other than massive population another reason for being a hotspot for water stress is that the three fourth of groundwater in India has already been extracted. So the correct answer to this question is option C 1 and 2. The report also mentions that India is one of the largest groundwater extractor in the world and as per the available data out of the total groundwater extracted in India 89 percentage was used for irrigation 9 percentage was used for domestic use and 2 percentage of groundwater was used for industrial use. So according to this report the major portion of groundwater is used for irrigation in our country. Now despite all these issues which are noted by this report the 2016 report also shows a positive trend in strengthening water security in the Asia and the Pacific region. It is because in the 2013 report there were 38 countries out of 49 countries which were assessed as water insecure but in 2016 report this number has dropped to 29 that is only 29 countries out of 48 countries have been assessed as water insecure. Now apart from this from examination point of view also remember that India is a member of ADB since 1966. Now let us take the next question. Now the next question asks what is academic luminescence that is often mentioned in news. Now since the word academic is mentioned here don't think that it is either option C or D. It has been given only to confuse you. This academic luminescence is the first and the only floating nuclear plant in the world as of now. So the correct answer is option B. It has been named after a Russian scientist and this has been developed by Rosatom. Rosatom is the Russia's Atomic Energy Corporation. Now let us see some other information about this academic luminescence. It has two nuclear reactors on board. The reactors are capable of producing up to 70 megawatts of electricity and 50 giga calories an hour of heat energy and the operation lifespan of this floating power plant is 40 years. Now this floating nuclear power plant was launched in August 2019 from the city of Murmansk in Russia and it reached Pevek in September 2019. Pevek lies in the far northeast region of Russia called as the Chukotka region. You know that this floating nuclear power plant is not self propelled rather two tugboats towed the floating nuclear power plant to Pevek and this floating power plant is expected to be commissioned in the summer of this year. Now the purpose of constructing such a nuclear power plant is to provide necessary energy that is electricity and heat energy for the population of Pevek. Also apart from this Russia wishes to prove that operating floating nuclear power plant in remote areas like Pevek is possible. Now remember that option A mission to help understand the Arctic climate system is nothing but the mosaic mission. We saw about this mosaic mission in our July 2019 target 2020 prelim series. Now let us take the next question. This next question is based on Pradhan Mantri, Fasal, Bhima, Yojana. Now before attending this question let us see the meaning of the Hindi words mentioned in this scheme. You know that Pradhan Mantri means Prime Minister and Fasal means crop and Bhima means insurance and Yojana means scheme. So it is a crop insurance scheme. So whenever you see the word Bhima you can relate that it is related to an insurance scheme. Now this crop insurance scheme was launched in 2016 and it has replaced the national agricultural insurance scheme and the modified national agricultural insurance scheme. So first statement is correct and this scheme is implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare which functions under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and even the concerned state in coordination with other various agencies is also responsible for the implementation of this scheme. Now it is important to know about this scheme in detail. The first and foremost objective of the scheme is to provide insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop and the failure has happened as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases. And apart from this these are the other objectives of this scheme. Now who are all eligible under this scheme? All the farmers growing notified crops in a notified area during the season who have insurable interest in the crop are eligible for coverage under this scheme. But apart from this this scheme is compulsory for certain sections of farmers. They are the farmers who are in the notified area who possess a crop loan account or credit or Kisan credit card account and these are the farmers to whom credit limit is sanctioned or renewed for the notified crop during the crop season. So statement 4 is correct. It is compulsory for farmers in the notified area who possess crop loan account or Kisan credit card account. Now just knowing the objectives we saw that it provides insurance coverage against the natural calamities. So what are the risks covered under this scheme? This scheme covers yield losses due to non-preventable risks such as natural fire, lightning, storm, hail storm, cyclone, typhoon etc. It also covers yield losses due to flood, landslide, drought, pests and diseases. And then it also covers losses because of prevented sowing. That is when majority of the insured farmers of a notified area have an intent to sow or plant and they have incurred expenditure for the purpose. But they are prevented from sowing due to adverse weather conditions. So if they are prevented from sowing then they can claim up to a maximum of 25 percentage of the insured amount. And apart from this, this scheme also covers post harvest losses. We also saw in the project Chaman question which also aims to cover the post harvest losses. And these are the other risks which are covered under the scheme. Now the next two statements, two and three statements are based on the premium offered by the scheme. Second statement is a uniform premium of only 2 percentage to be paid by farmers for all the crops. This statement is incorrect because there is uniform premium of only 2 percent for all the Karif crops. And for Rabi crops it is 1.5 percentage. And in the case of annual commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by farmers will be only 5 percentage. So that is differential premium rates. Now since statement two is incorrect, you can arrive at the correct answer which is option D, one and four only. Now statement three is incorrect because before February 2020, the center in states shared the balanced premium in 50s to 50 ratio. That is they had equal contribution. But in February 2020, the center has almost halved its contribution to this flagship crop insurance scheme. Center has cut its share of the premium subsidy from the current 50 percentage to just 25 percentage in irrigated areas or crops. And the 50 percentage has been cut down to 30 percentage for unirrigated areas or crops. And this is to be applicable from the Karif season of 2020 itself. In addition to this, there is one more change in center's share with respect to northeastern states. See previously for all the states, the subsidy sharing pattern was 50s to 50 between the center and the states. But now for northeastern states, center's share of the premium has been increased to 90 percentage. So keep this in mind. And apart from this, the scheme also manages the use of mobile phones to get reliable good quality and timely yield data. So availability of yield data will help in speedy settlement of claims of farmers. Then the scheme also provides for geo fencing or geo mapping of the region using the GPS. So that is all about this Pradhan Mantri, Fasal Bhima Yojna, Fasal means crops, Bhima means insurance. Now let us take the next question. This next question is based on coral reefs. Now the coral reefs were in news because due to algal bloom in the Gulf of Manar, several hundred colonies of coral reefs died. And the algal bloom was caused by the greenish marine micro algae, which is called as Noctiluca scintillens. Now this question says coral reefs protect coastlines from storms and erosion, but they are facing several natural and anthropogenic threats, which among the following statements are correct about coral reefs. Now first know that coral is a living animal. Coral reefs are built by and they are made up of thousands of tiny animals called as coral polyps, as you can see in this picture. Now the first statement is corals and zooxanthole have a symbiotic relationship. This statement is correct. Zooxanthole is a photosynthetic algae and most reef building corals contain this zooxanthole. These zooxanthole live in the tissues of corals. See as you know a symbiotic relationship means one organism gives something to the other organism and it gets something back in return. So here the corals provide the algae with a protected environment and also the compounds which are needed for photosynthesis. And in return the algae produce oxygen and it helps to remove waste from the coral. And most importantly zooxanthole supply the coral with glucose, glycerol and amino acids, which are the products of photosynthesis. Now these products are used by coral to make proteins, fats and carbohydrates and it produces calcium carbonate. So that is how they share the symbiotic relationship. Now the second statement states in India they are found in Gulf of Manar, Sundarbans and Andhraban and Nicobar islands. This statement is incorrect. Coral reefs are not found in Sundarbans. In India they are found in Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Manar, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Lakshadip islands and in Malwan of Maharashtra. Now since statement 2 is incorrect and the question asks for the correct statements you can eliminate option B and C. Now as the question mentions the coral reefs are facing several threats which are both natural and anthropogenic. Anthropogenic means due to human activities. Now here the threats include elevated sea water temperature which could be due to global warming, then chemical pollution, nutrient loading, then industrial waste flowing into the sea etc etc. So these are the threats. But why there is a need to care about coral reefs? It is because they are an important food source for the people who live near reefs and they act as nurseries so they are vital to world fisheries. Healthy reefs also act as natural barriers. They protect coastal cities, communities and beaches from the pounding ocean waves. So that is why coral reefs are important. So there are many global initiatives such as global coral reef monitoring network, global coral reef alliance and then international coral reef initiative. They play an important role in monitoring the reef zones and they raise awareness in the public regarding the coral reefs. Now the third statement is about one such initiative only international coral reef initiative. It mentions India as the founding member of this initiative. This statement is incorrect. See this initiative is an informal partnership between nations and organizations which strive to preserve coral reefs and their related ecosystems around the world. And this initiative was founded in 1994 by eight governments which are Australia, France, Japan, Jamaica, Philippines, Sweden, United Kingdom and USA. And India is not a founding government and India is not a founding member. So that is why this statement is incorrect. But currently the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Government of India is a member in this initiative. So the correct answer to this question is option A1 only. This next question is based on art forms and the states or unitarities which they belong to. The first pair is Atikopaka, Bommaloo, Tamil Nadu. Now this pair is incorrect because it belongs to Andhra Pradesh. In this Bommaloo means toys and they are created in the Atikopaka village. It is a small village located on the banks of the river Varaha in the Visagapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. This Atikopaka toys are made in this region and they are made with lacquer color and they are traditionally called as Atikopaka Bommaloo. The toys are also called as lacquer toys because of application of lacquer coating and the toys are made out of wood and then they are colored with natural dyes which are derived from seeds, lacquer, bark, roots and divs and the wood which is used to make the toys are soft in nature and the art of toy making is known as turned wood lacquer craft. Now remember that this Atikopaka toys received geographical indication tag in the year 2017 under the handicrafts category from Andhra Pradesh. Now here the question asks which of the pairs given above are not correctly matched so that means pair one should be in the final answer. So you can eliminate options C and D. Now the next pair is Kurumba paintings Kerala. This is also an incorrect pair. See Kurumba art is a unique tribal art form found in the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu not Kerala and this Kurumba painting are obviously the art form of Kurumba tribes who are from the Nilgiris of Tamil Nadu. The Kurumbas are a tribe of hunters and they are the medicine man. They believe that the art that is the Kurumba paintings are the work of their ancestors and the art is related to tribal rituals. It describes various facets of tribal life in the forests of the Nilgiris. Apart from this the Kurumbas are the forest dwellers whose social, cultural, religious and economic strength came from their immediate environment and the nature. So they also collect honey and sell the honey at premium rates so it is one of their occupation. Now the Kurumbas have been categorized as particularly vulnerable tribal group from the state of Tamil Nadu because the developments of 20th century have resulted in the Kurumbas losing their forests thereby they are losing their traditional skills also. But this art form has been revived by the CP Ramaswamy Ayur Foundation which is present in Chennai. So the correct answer to this question is option B one and two. Third pair is correct as we already saw Shondal dance belongs to the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is a traditional dance of Ladakh. This next question is based on power generation in India. The first statement is hydro energy is the least contributor to the overall power generation in India. Now to answer this statement first you should note the sector wise power generation in India. The central sector forms 25.2 percentage of total power generated and the state sector contributes 28 percentage of the total power generated and the private sector contributes 46 percentage of total power generated hence the private sector generates almost but less than 50 percentage of the total power generated in India. So that means statement two is incorrect. Private sector does not generate more than half of power generated within India. Now hydro energy is a type of energy which is generated and in India 62.8 percentage of the total power comes from thermal energy and within thermal coal produces 54.2 percentage of the total power generation in India. Then other thermal fuels are gas, lignite and diesel as you can see here. Then the next type is hydro energy it contributes 12.4 percentage of the total and the renewable energy sources together constitute 23.5 percentage and the renewable energy sources include small hydro projects biomass power solar and wind energy etc and then the nuclear power contributes just 1.9 percentage of the total energy generator. So from this you can easily say that the least contributor is nuclear power and not the hydro energy. So the first statement is also incorrect. Now here the question asks for the correct statement so the correct answer is question is option D neither one nor two. This next question is based on trade receivables discounting system or in short TREDS four options are given. Now first know that trade receivables are amounts which are billed by business to its customers when the business delivers goods or services to the customers in an ordinary course and this TREDS is an electronic platform for facilitating the financing and discounting of trade receivables of the micro small and medium enterprises and this will be done through multiple financiers and micro small and medium enterprises are nothing but MSMEs. So the answer should contain MSMEs which is an option D and initiative of RBI of India to safeguard the interest of MSMEs. This is the correct option this initiative was introduced by RBI in 2014 it aims to ensure regular flow of operational funds to the cash starved MSMEs it is done through raising funds by selling their trade receivables to the corporates and on a TREDS platform there are three participants sellers buyers financiers and only MSMEs can participate as sellers then corporates government departments PSUs can participate as buyers and then banks and NBFCs can participate as financiers in TREDS. So remember that it is an initiative to safeguard the interest of MSMEs. Now let us take the next question. This next question is about ASEAN way we know that ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations and it is a regional organization in Asia it was established to promote political and social stability in the region and it was established by the Bangkok Declaration these are the member countries of ASEAN and in this Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore and Thailand are the founding fathers of this organization. Now this ASEAN has fundamental principles and these principles are based on treaty of enmity and cooperation in Southeast Asia of 1976 and these are the principles under this treaty which also includes non-interference in the internal affairs of one another settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner etc etc these principles guide interactions among the ASEAN members and it helps them to work with cooperation. Now this question is about ASEAN way first statement is it is the shared norms principles and values governing the interactions of ASEAN member states this statement is correct it is a diplomatic engagement to solve the differences among these states and this ASEAN way has a legal foundation in the form of treaty of enmity and cooperation of Southeast Asia of 1976. So this ASEAN way also works as a dispute settlement mechanism that is it manages regional discord through the modalities of norms and principles of non-interference then it carries out peaceful settlement of disputes and it also follows a non-confrontational attitude towards conflicts. So on a whole it means that the ASEAN members through the principles of this treaty weed out the cultural differences political and economic differences and they keep the ASEAN together. Now the second statement is India's signatory to treaty of enmity and cooperation in Southeast Asia this statement is also correct India signed this treaty in 2003 here the question asks for the correct statements and the correct answer to this question is option C both 1 and 2 and now successfully we have reached the last question of this series the question asks recently Indian government launched humanitarian assistance operation to Sulawesi province of Indonesia which among the following is the name of the operation. Now the statement mentions about operation Samudra Maitri and you can remember that Samudra means C and Maitri means friendship or rapprochement this Samudra Maitri was a humanitarian operation by India to assist the tsunami affected Indonesia in September 2018 an earthquake followed by tsunami occurred in the central Sulawesi province of Indonesia and to assist the victims of tsunami India launched this operation India sent medical personnel and relief material to the devastated province along with this three naval ships were also mobilized to carry out the humanitarian assistance and disaster reliefs these naval ships are INS Thir INS Sujata and INS Shartul so the correct answer is option B now the first option is operation Madad Madad in Hindi means help and this operation was launched by Indian Navy to assist the flood affected Kerala which happened in 2018 the heavy rainfall and release of excess of water from Idiquidam caused heavy flooding and it submerged many low-lying areas in Kerala we all know that so Navy carried out disaster relief operations in Kerala and in the same time even the Indian Army launched operation Sahiog to carry out rescue and relief operations in the flood affected parts of Kerala now the option C is operation vanilla this was the operation launched by Indian Navy to assist cyclone affected Madagascar the cyclone Diane devastated Madagascar in January 2020 so as a humanitarian gesture Indian Navy sent INS Aira with to carry out humanitarian assistance and disaster relief this relief mission was designated as operation vanilla as Madagascar is one of the vanilla islands so that is why this topic is important now the option D is operation NISTAR see in Hindi NISTAR means released from or rescued from so this operation NISTAR is a rescue operation which was launched by Indian Navy it was launched to evacuate the stranded Indians in the Sokotra island of Yemen in 2018 Cyclone Mikunu devastated Sokotra islands and this led to stranding of Indians who are living there so to rescue them INS Sunaina was sent by Indian Navy and even geopolitically Sokotra has great significance because it lies in Gulf of Aden and it lies close to Djibouti and it is close to major shipping lanes in Indian Ocean as we already discussed in one of our previous questions Djibouti has naval bases belonging to the countries of US France Italy Japan and China so maintaining good relations with Yemen has great significance for India now from examination point of view let us also see these places from geographical perspective you can see in this map that if we arrange these places from north to south order the order is Sokotra Sulawesi and Madagascar and from west to east the order will be Madagascar Sokotra and Sulawesi also remember that Sokotra lies north to equator and as we know Madagascar lies south to equator and even the Sulawesi lies south to equator you can see this in this map very clearly so that is all about the september series from prelims perspective aspirants are required to remember the names of operations and the recipient countries so that is why we have chosen this question with this we have come to the end of target 2020 series by Shankar IS Academy for the month of september 2019 if you like the video don't forget to like comment and share and do subscribe to Shankar IS Academy YouTube channel for more updates related to civil service examination preparation