UPSC Quiz – 2020 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 92]

Solution (b)

• The Ministry of Panchayati Raj released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding e-Gram Swaraj. The application was launched on the National Panchayati Raj Day (April 24).
• It aim to bring in better transparency and strengthening of the e-Governance in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) across the country through decentralized planning, progress reporting and work-based accounting.
• It will also assist in enhancing the credibility of Panchayats which would induce greater devolution of funds to PRIs.
• It will help in establishing a strong financial system by integrating the PRIASoft and Public Financial Management System (PFMS).
• The PRIASoft (Panchayati Raj Institutions Accounting Software) is the Online Payment Module whereby Gram Panchayats are carrying out online payments to the vendors and service providers.
• The main objective of introducing such a module is to have a sound financial management system in the Panchayats leading to their greater credibility and image.
• These endeavours are also congruent to that of Digital India Programme which is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

Solution (c)

• PGS is a process of certifying organic products, which ensures that their production takes place in accordance with laid-down quality standards.
• The certification is in the form of a documented logo or a statement.
• According to a 2008 definition formulated by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), PGSs are locally focused quality assurance system that certify producers based on active participation of stakeholders and are built on a foundation of trust, social networks and knowledge exchange.

Four pillars of PGS

The government’s 2015 PGS manual underlines that the system in India is based on participatory approach, a shared vision, transparency and trust.

• Participation: Stakeholders such as producers, consumers, retailers, traders etc are collectively responsible for designing and decision-making. Direct communication among the stakeholders helps create an integrity- and trust-based approach with transparency in decision-making.
• Shared Vision: Each stakeholder organisation or PGS group can adopt its own vision conforming to the overall vision and standards of the PGS-India programme.
• Transparency: Transparency is maintained through the active participation of producers in information-sharing at meetings and workshops, peer reviews, and involvement in decision-making.
• Trust: A fundamental premise of PGS is the idea that producers can be trusted. The trustworthiness includes a producer pledge made through a witnessed signing of a declaration, and written collective undertakings by the group to abide by the standards of PGS.

Solution (c)

• Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Hikaa was a tropical cyclone that struck eastern Oman
• The practice of naming storms (tropical cyclones) began years ago in order to help in the quick identification of storms in warning messages because names are presumed to be far easier to remember than numbers and technical terms.

How are cyclones named?

• The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) started the tropical cyclone naming system in 2000.
• Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches, and warnings.

TROPICAL-CYCLONE

• Weather forecasters give each tropical cyclone a name to avoid confusion. Each year, tropical cyclones receive names in alphabetical order.
• The name list is proposed by the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) of WMO Members of a specific region, and approved by the respective tropical cyclone regional bodies at their annual/bi-annual sessions.
• Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.
• The original name lists featured only women’s names. In 1979, men’s names were introduced and they alternate with the women’s names. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2019 list will be used again in 2025.
• The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity.

Solution (b)

 The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages to raise awareness of the importance of sign language as a human rights of people who are deaf.

• The theme for 2019 International Day of Sign languages is “Sign Language Rights for All“.

• The proposal for the Day came from the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), a federation of 135 national associations of deaf people.
• The first International Day of Sign Languages was celebrated on 23 September 2018 as part of the International Week of the Deaf that took place in September 2018.

Sign Languages

• Sign languages is a language that employs signs made with the hands and other movements, including facial expressions and postures of the body, used primarily by people who are deaf.
• There is also an international sign language, which is used by deaf people in international meetings and informally when travelling and socializing.
• According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide. More than 80% of them live in developing countries and use more than 300 different sign languages.
• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes and promotes the use of sign languages.

Solution (a)

• Naropa Festival celebrates the life of Buddhist philosopher and scholar
• Similar to Kumbh Mela, the festival is celebrated every year with grand celebration every 12th year. The last celebration was organised in year 2016 for the completion of 1,000 years of Naropa legacy.
• It is the largest assembly of Drukpa masters and include cultural performances by prominent Himalayan artists.
• The festival includes several rare cultural events that are believed to grant spiritual liberation upon sight. This includes the ceremonial unfurling of the largest silk embroidery of Buddha Amitabha that is only displayed to public audiences during the Naropa festival.