Solution (b)

REX MKII is an Israeli remote-controlled armed robot can patrol battle zones, track infiltrators and open fire.

It is the latest addition to the world of drone technology, which is rapidly reshaping the modern battlefield.

It is operated by an electronic tablet and can be equipped with two machine guns, cameras and sensors, said Rani Avni, deputy head of the company’s autonomous systems division. The robot can gather intelligence for ground troops, carry injured soldiers and supplies in and out of battle, and strike nearby targets.

Article Link: Israeli firm unveils armed robot to patrol volatile borders

Solution (d)

Paradip Port is a natural, deep-water port on the East coast of India in odisha. It is situated at confluence of the Mahanadi River and the Bay of Bengal. It is administered by the Paradip Port Trust (PPT), administering under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 functioning under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

Chennai Port is the second largest container port of India, behind Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva. The port is the largest one in the Bay of Bengal. It is an artificial and all-weather port with wet docks.

Mumbai Port is a port which lies midway on the West coast of India, on the natural deep-water harbour of Mumbai (Bombay) in Maharashtra. The harbour opens to the south to the Arabian Sea.

Article Link: Paradeep Port Trust aims to boost EXIM trade with installation of New Container Scanner

Solution (d)

SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas) scheme is a Central Sector Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj. 

It aims to provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.

The scheme seeks to achieve the following objectives: –

• Creation of accurate land records for rural planning and reduce property related disputes.
• To bring financial stability to the citizens in rural India by enabling them to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.
• Determination of property tax, which would accrue to the GPs directly in States where it is devolved or else, add to the State exchequer.
• Creation of survey infrastructure and GIS maps that can be leveraged by any department for their use. 
• To support in preparation of better-quality Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) by making use of GIS maps.

Article Link: Union Minister Shri Giriraj Singh to inaugurate National Meet on SVAMITVA Scheme

Solution (b)

Monetary policy is the macroeconomic policy laid down by the central bank. It involves management of money supply and interest rate and is the demand side economic policy used by the government of a country to achieve macroeconomic objectives like inflation, consumption, growth and liquidity.

In India, monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India is aimed at managing the quantity of money in order to meet the requirements of different sectors of the economy and to increase the pace of economic growth.

The RBI implements the monetary policy through open market operations, bank rate policy, reserve system, credit control policy, moral persuasion and through many other instruments. Using any of these instruments will lead to changes in the interest rate, or the money supply in the economy. 

Monetary policy can be expansionary and contractionary in nature. Increasing money supply and reducing interest rates indicate an expansionary policy. The reverse of this is a contractionary monetary policy.

Article Link: Hamletian dilemma of monetary policy

Solution (c)

Groundswell report is published by World Bank.

This report focuses on three regions—Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America that together represent 55 percent of the developing world’s population.

Findings of the report:

• Climate change will push tens of millions of people to migrate within their countries by 2050. 
• It projects that without concrete climate and development action, just over 143 million people—or around 2.8 percent of the population of these three regions—could be forced to move within their own countries to escape the slow-onset impacts of climate change. 
• They will migrate from less viable areas with lower water availability and crop productivity and from areas affected by rising sea level and storm surges. 
• The poorest and most climate vulnerable areas will be hardest hit. 
• These trends, alongside the emergence of “hotspots” of climate in- and out-migration, will have major implications for climate-sensitive sectors and for the adequacy of infrastructure and social support systems. 
• The report finds that internal climate migration will likely rise through 2050 and then accelerate unless there are significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and robust development action.

Article Link: Groundswell : Preparing for Internal Climate Migration