Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is Residential hostel.

• Under the Rajasthan Ambedkar DBT Voucher Yojana, Students will be provided facility of residential hostels.

Key Points

• Ambedkar DBT Voucher Scheme
  • Under this scheme, the state government will provide vouchers for residential facilities to the students studying in various reserved categories of colleges of Rajasthan to stay away from their homes in urban areas. 
  • Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the proposal to implement Ambedkar DBT Voucher Scheme for SC, ST, OBC, MBC, and EWS students.
  • Under the scheme, the beneficiary students will be given Rs. 7 thousand per month for the residential facility at the divisional headquarters and Rs. 5 thousand per month for other district headquarters.
  • Under this scheme, 5000 students will be provided vouchers on a merit basis for 10 months.
  • Only those students will be able to take advantage of Rajasthan Ambedkar DBT Voucher Yojana, who live in urban areas away from their homes to get an education.

The correct answer is Crude oil.

Important Points

• An import is a good or service bought in one country that was produced in another.
• Imports and exports are components of international trade.
• If the value of a country's imports exceeds the value of its exports, the country has a negative balance of trade (BOT), also known as a trade deficit.

Key Points

• India produces just 20% crude oil of its demand and rests 80% is imported from abroad.
• Crude oil and other related products account for around 22% total import of India.
• The second spot is obtained by the capital goods (machinery, base metal, transport equipment) which accounts for 19.2% of the total Indian imports.
• The third spot is obtained by the import of gems and jewellery (16.8 per cent of the total imports), the fourth and fifth spot is secured by the chemical & related products (12.7%), and electronic goods (11.4%) respectively.

The correct answer is Walra.

 Key Points

• Jhum cultivation also called Walra and burn agriculture is a form of crop-growing farming activity.
  • In the North-East states, agriculture is primarily based on Jhum cultivation.
  • It is an agricultural system where a farming community slashes secondary forests on a planned location, burns the slash, and cultivates the land for a limited number of years.
  • The land is then left unused and the farming community moves to the next location to repeat the process till they return back to the starting point.
  • It has frequently been claimed that jhum has led to the loss of valuable natural resources of the region.
  • The practice involves clearing vegetative/forest cover on slopes of hills, drying and burning it before the onset of monsoon, and cropping on it thereafter. 

Additional Information

• The shifting agriculture practiced by the tribes belonging to Dungarpur and Banswara districts in south Rajasthan.
• During May and June, the existing vegetation is cleared by burning.
  • Then grains are shown before the monsoon arrives.
  • Thus cultivating a patch of land for a few years, they move to a new patch of land and the cycle continues.
  • Once the place is left after harvesting, it remains unattended for 10-20 years to have its vegetation back.
  • It is believed that soil fertility is restored during this fallow period.

The correct answer is 9%.

Key Points

• 12th Five Year Plan (2012 - 2017)
  • 12th Five Year Plan 2012-17 as per the draft document released by the Planning Commission aims at a growth rate of 9%.
  • 12th Five Year Plan of the Government of India (2012–17) was India's last Five Year Plan.
  • With the deteriorating global situation, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that achieving an average growth rate of 8 percent in the next five years is not possible.
  • The final growth target has been set at 8% by the endorsement of the plan at the National Development Council (NDC) meeting held in New Delhi.
  • The government intends to reduce poverty by 10 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

Additional Information

• NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India)
  • Planning Commission was replaced by a new institution – NITI AAYYOG on January 1, 2015, with emphasis on the ‘Bottom –Up’ approach to envisage the vision of Maximum Governance, Minimum Government, echoing the spirit of ‘Cooperative Federalism.
  • Chairperson: Prime Minister
  • Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by Prime-Minister
  • Governing Council: Chief Ministers of all states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
  • Regional Council: To address specific regional issues, Comprising Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors Chaired by Prime Minister or his nominee.
  • Adhoc Membership: 2 members in ex-officio capacity from leading Research institutions on a rotational basis.
  • Ex-Officio membership: Maximum four from Union council of ministers to be nominated by Prime minister.
  • Chief Executive Officer: Appointed by Prime-minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to Government of India.
  • Special Invitees: Experts, Specialists with domain knowledge nominated by Prime-minister.

The correct answer is Inflation.

Key Points

• Inflation:
  • ​Inflation is an increase in the level of prices of the goods and services that households buy.
  • It is measured as the rate of change of those prices.
  • The well-known indicator of inflation is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the percentage change in the price of a basket of goods and services consumed by households.
  • Inflation refers to the increase in the prices of the goods and services of daily use, such as food, housing, clothing, transport, recreation, consumer staples, etc.
  • Inflation is calculated in India by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.

Additional Information

• Deflation: 
  • ​It is also called negative inflation.
  • During a deflationary period, prices fall in the same way as they arise in the case of inflation: continuously and in a generalized manner.
• Stagflation:
  • ​Stagflation is the extreme economic situation, a peculiar combination of stagnant growth and rising inflation leading to high unemployment.
  • Causes of Stagflation:
    • ​Government expansion of the money supply.
    • Decreasing level of Productivity.
    • Supply-side shock.
    • Increasing structural Unemployment.
    • Central bank raising Interest rates.
    • A sudden increase in oil prices.
  • Hyperinflation:​
    • It is the situation when the price of goods and services rises uncontrollably over a definite time period.
    • It is also called Rapid Inflation.