Current Affairs Quiz , 31 Oct 2018

1) Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana was launched by

a) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
b) Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
c) Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers
d) Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Answer: c
• Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.
• MBJP stores have been set up to provide generic drugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and efficacy as expensive branded drugs.
• Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI) is the implementation agency for PMBJP.
• Mission:
o Create awareness among the public regarding generic medicines.
o Create demand for generic medicines through medical practitioners.
o Create awareness through education and awareness program that high price need not be synonymous of high quality.
o Provide all the commonly used generic medicines covering all the therapeutic groups.
o Provide all the related health care products too under the scheme.

2) What is India’s rank in the recent Ease of Doing Business Report is published by World Bank?

a) 77th
b) 100th
c) 130th
d) 52nd

Answer: a
• India at 77th Rank in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report.
• The World Bank released its latest Doing Business Report (DBR, 2019).
• India has recorded a jump of 23 positions against its rank of 100 in 2017 to be placed now at 77thrank among 190 countries assessed by the World Bank.
• As a result of continued efforts by the Government, India has improved its rank by 53 positions in the last two years and 65 positions in the last four years.
• The Doing Business assessment provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies on ten parameters affecting a business through its life cycle.
• The DBR ranks countries on the basis of Distance to Frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice.
• India has improved its rank in 6 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score) on 7 out of the 10 indicators.
• The important features of India’s performance this year are:
o The World Bank has recognized India as one of the top improvers for the year.
o This is the second consecutive year for which India has been recognized as one of the top improvers.
o India is the first BRICS and South Asian country to be recognized as top improvers in consecutive years.
o India has recorded the highest improvement in two years by any large country since 2011 in the Doing business assessment by improving its rank by 53 positions.
o As a result of continued performance, India is now placed at first position among South Asian countries as against 6th in 2014.

3) The Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas is prepared by

a) World Wide Fund for Nature
b) UNEP
c) Biodiversity International
d) IUCN

Answer: a
• India’s soil biodiversity is in grave peril, according to the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas prepared by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
o The WWF’s ‘risk index’ for the globe indicating threats from loss of above-ground diversity, pollution and nutrient over-loading, over-grazing, intensive agriculture, fire, soil erosion, desertification and climate change shows India among countries whose soil biodiversity faces the highest level of risk.
• Soil biodiversity:
o Soil biodiversity encompasses the presence of micro-organisms, micro-fauna (nematodes and tardigrades for example), and macro-fauna (ants, termites and earthworms).
o The findings were part of the bi-annual Living Planet Report 2018.
• Major reasons cited:
o The two key drivers of biodiversity loss were the over exploitation of natural resources and agriculture, the WWF added in its report.
• Way forward (as suggested by WWE):
o Clearly specifying a goal for biodiversity recovery.
o Developing a set of measurable and relevant indicators of progress.
o Agreeing on a suite of actions that can collectively achieve the goal in the required time frame.

4) #OpenGovDataHack is an initiative by

a) Google
b) National Informatics Centre
c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
d) Central Economic Intelligence Bureau

Answer: b
• Open Government Data (OGD) Platform India (https://data.gov.in) India is at the forefront in promoting innovation in Open Data ecosystem in India.
• It has been set-up by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in compliance with the Open Data Policy whose objective is to provide a platform for proactive access to Government-owned shareable data.
• The Open Government Data Team, National Informatics Centre (NIC) in association with Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) & StartUp India had organized Hackathon – “#OpenGovDataHack“ for Students, Entrepreneurs, Innovators, Start-ups, Developers and Community to create unique and innovative service delivery Applications & Info-Graphics to foster innovation.

5) The Living Planet Report is published by

a) CITES
b) IUCN
c) UNEP
d) WWF for Nature

Answer: d
• The Living Planet Report has been published every two years by the World Wide Fund for Nature since 1998.
• It is based on the Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculations.
• The Living Planet Report is the world’s leading, science-based analysis on the health of our planet and the impact of human activity.
• The 2018 report found a “decline of 60% in population sizes” of vertebrate species overall from 1970 to 2014.
• The 2018 report calls for new goals post-2020 alongside those of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.