Solution (c)

Explanation: 

About Krishna Basin

• The Krishna is the second largest eastward draining interstate river basin in Peninsular India. 
• The basin is situated between east longitudes 730 21’ to 810 09’ and north latitudes 130 07’ to 190 25’ in the Deccan Plateau covering large areas in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. 
• The Krishna Basin is bounded on the north by the ridge separating it from the Godavari basin, on the south and east by the Eastern Ghats and on the west by the Western Ghats. 
• The basin is roughly triangular in shape with its base along the Western Ghats, the apex at Vijayawada and the Krishna itself forming the median. 
• All the major tributaries draining the base of the triangle fall into the Krishna River in the upper two-thirds of its length. 
• The Krishna drains an area of 2,58,948 sq.km. which is nearly 8% of the total geographical area of the country. 

Article reference JD(S) wants Centre to declare Krishna River Basin Project as national project

Solution (b)

Explanation:

The Ease of Living Index (EoLI) is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development. It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities across India based on quality of life, economic-ability of a city, and its sustainability and resilience. The assessment also incorporates the residents’ view on the services provided by city administration through a Citizen Perception Survey.

The Municipal Performance Index (MPI) was launched as an accompaniment to the Ease of Living Index. It seeks to examine local government practice in municipalities across areas of services, finance, policy, technology and governance. It seeks to simplify and evaluate the complexities in local governance practice and promote the ethos of transparency and accountability.

Both the index are released by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ category, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai. In the Less than Million category, Shimla was ranked the highest in ease of living, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.

Similar to the EoLI index, the assessment framew ork under MPI 2020 has classified municipalities based on their population- Million+ (municipalities having over a million population) and Less than Million Population. In the Million+ category, Indore has emerged as the highest ranked municipality, followed by Surat and Bhopal. In the Less than Million category, New Delhi Municipal Council has emerged as the leader, followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.

Article reference: Bengaluru, Shimla ‘most liveable’ cities in govt’s Ease of Living Index

Solution (d)

Explanation

About SSB

• SSB comes under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs and a part of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF)
• It was declared a lead intelligence agency for Indo Nepal in June 2001 and assigned the Indo Nepal border. In 2004, it was also assigned Indo Bhutan border.
• In 2004, SSB received the President’s Colours in recognition of the keystone role in national security, since its inception.
• Responsibilities:
  • To promote a sense of security among the people living in the border areas.
  • To prevent trans-border crimes and unauthorized entry into or exit from Indian territory.
  • To prevent smuggling and other illegal activities on Indian frontiers.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi and three frontier headquarters are at Lucknow (UP), Patna (Bihar) and Guwahati (Assam).
• It is spread out on Indo Nepal and Indo Bhutan borders across the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Article link: Govt okays 12 new SSB battalions to fortify Nepal, Bhutan borders, tri-junction area 

Solution (d)

Explanation

In 1996, all projects for river cleaning in the country were brought under one umbrella scheme of NRCP. The objective of NRCP is to reduce the pollution load in rivers through implementation of various pollution abatement works, thereby improving their water quality.

The project under the National River Conservation Plan will be implemented by the National River Conservation Directorate, NRCD. (So, Statement 1 is incorrect)

The projects submitted by the State Governments are taken up under NRCP depending upon the degree of pollution in the river, the designated best use of the river stretch as well as the priority of the State Government, formulation of the project as per NRCP guidelines, commitment of the State Government to bear its share of capital cost and full O&M cost of the project as well as availability of funds under the Plan.

With effect from 1.8.2014, all works relating to Ganga and its tributaries have been transferred to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change is presently implementing the works for pollution abatement of rivers, other than Ganga and its tributaries. (So, statement 2 is incorrect)

Article link: Nag river pollution abatement project approved

Solution (c)

Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is a major source of livelihood for tribals living in forest areas. The importance of MFPs for this section of the society can be gauged from the fact that around 100 million forest dwellers depend on MFPs for food, shelter, medicines and cash income.

The Van Dhan Scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED.  It was launched on 14th April, 2018 and seeks to improve tribal incomes through value addition of tribal products.

The scheme will be implemented through Ministry of Tribal Affairs as Nodal Department at the Central Level and TRIFED as Nodal Agency at the National Level. At State level, the State Nodal Agency for MFPs and the District collectors are envisaged to play a pivot role in scheme implementation at grassroot level. Locally the Kendras are proposed to be managed by a Managing Committee (an SHG) consisting of representatives of Van Dhan SHGs in the cluster.

At unit level, aggregation of produce would be done by SHGs having about 30 members each forming Van Dhan Vikas ‘Samuh’. The SHGs would also undertake primary value addition of the MFPs using equipment such as small cutting and sieving tools, decorticator, dryer, packaging tool etc based on MFPs available in the area.

Provision of MSP for Minor Forest Produce is there, but that provision is under the scheme of Minimum Support Price for Minor Forest Produce scheme (MSP for MFP Scheme).(So, statement (c) is incorrect)

 Article link: Van DhanVikasYojana – Empowering the tribals