UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 19th JUNE 2021

Solution (b)

The objective of ‘Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN)’ Scheme is to provide various career opportunities to women scientists and technologists. It is primarily aimed to bring gender parity in the Science & Technology sector by inducting more women talent in the research & development domain through various programmes.

The objective of Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) is to develop a comprehensive Charter and a framework for assessing Gender Equality in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

The objective of Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme is provide additional income to farmers, by giving them the option to sell additional power to the grid, through solar power projects set up on their barren lands.

Article Link: Journey of Women Scientists

Solution (c)

The objective of India’s Deep Ocean Mission is to focus on studying and exploring the deepwater bodies in our country for undiscovered minerals, stones, living or non-living entities Both, man force and robotic machines will be used for the mission.

It is a five-year inter-ministerial and inter-departmental mission that will bring together researchers and experts from the Indian Space Research Organisation, Defence Development and Research Organisation, Department of Atomic Energy, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Navy.

This mission will make India one among the handful of powerful nations that already have dedicated ocean studies and missions, including the US, Japan, France, Russia and China.

The mission also provides impetus to India’s Blue Economy initiatives — planned from 2020 to 2030 — which envisages a number of researches that will be performed to study the oceans, of which very little is known. Five thrust areas under the Deep Ocean Mission are — development of technologies for deep sea mining; manned submersible; development of ocean climate change advisory services; development of technology for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity; deep ocean survey and setting up of a marine station for ocean Biology.

Note: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is the nodal ministry implementing this multi-institutional ambitious mission.

Article Link: To tighten India’s grip in Indian Ocean region, cabinet approves Rs 4,077-crore Deep Ocean Mission

Solution (c)

Sustainable Development Report 2021 is prepared by experts from the UN’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN); this report compares how countries implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Finland has ranked highest in the annual Sustainable Development Report.

India is ranked 120: ranked ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia.

India made significant progress and is on track or maintaining its SDG achievement in:

• SDG6: Clean water and sanitation
• SDG 13: Climate action

Performance of India declined in: 

• SDG 4: Quality Education
• SDG 15: Life on Land

Article Link: Sustainable Development Report 2021

Solution (a)

The 7th edition of the UNESCO Science report has been released recently under the title “The race against time for smarter development”. This report makes a detailed analysis of the development path that countries have been following over the last five years in the field of science.

The report finds that:

India’s investment in research and development (R&D) remains unsatisfactory.

The gross domestic expenditure on research (GERD) has been stagnant at 0.7% of the GDP for years. However, in absolute terms, the research expenditure has increased.

India also has one of the lowest GERD/GDP ratios among the BRICS nations.

Target: The Science and Technology Policy of 2003 fixed the threshold of devoting 2% of GDP to research and development (R&D) by 2007. However, the target has not been achieved and is being extended again and again.

Research and Development (R&D) in the government sector has been declining steadily since 2015.

There has been an increase in scientific publications by Indian researchers on cutting-edge technologies. Total publications have risen from 80,458 in 2011 to 1.61 lakh in 2019. However, patenting by domestic corporations, research institutes, universities, and individuals remain low in India.

Article Link: India’s investment in research unsatisfactory: UNESCO report

Solution (d)

Public Accounts committee:

This Committee consists of 15 members elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members of the Rajya Sabha. A Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee. The term of the Committee is one year.

The main duty of the Committee is to ascertain whether the money granted by Parliament has been spent by Government “within the scope of the Demand”. 

The Appropriation Accounts of the Government of India and the Audit Reports presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General mainly form the basis for the examination of the Committee. 

Cases involving losses, nugatory expenditure and financial irregularities come in for severe criticism by the Committee. The Committee is not concerned with questions of policy. It is concerned only with the execution of the policy laid down by Parliament and its results.

Article Link: Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee decides agenda in first meeting amid huge uproar