Inspired by: Jaipur gets UNESCO World Heritage tag

https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/jaipur-gets-unesco-world-heritage-tag/

Answer: (c)

• The Walled City of Jaipur, known for its iconic architectural legacy and vibrant culture made its entry into the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
• Walled City of Ahmedabad, founded by Sultan Ahmed Shah in the 15th century, was declared India’s first World Heritage City in 2017.
• With this, India now has 38 World Heritage Sites , that include 30 Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties and 1 mixed site.
• As of July 2019, a total of 1,121 World Heritage Sites (869 cultural, 213 natural, and 39 mixed properties) exist across 167 countries.
• Italy and China, both with 55 sites, have the most of any country, followed by Spain (48), Germany (46), France (45), India (38), and Mexico (35).

Inspired by: Union Budget 2019-20, https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/explained-interim-budget/

Answer: (b)

Vote on Account

• A vote on account essentially means that the government seeks the approval of Parliament for meeting expenditure — paying salaries, ongoing programmes in various sectors etc.
• It involves no changes in the taxation structure, until a new government takes over and presents a full Budget that is revised for the full fiscal.
• An Interim Budget is not the same as a ‘Vote on Account’.
• Full Budget deals with both expenditure and revenue side but Vote-on-account deals only with the expenditure side of the government’s budget.
• While a ‘Vote on Account’ deals only with the expenditure side of the government’s budget, an Interim Budget is a complete set of accounts, including both expenditure and receipts.
• An Interim Budget gives the complete financial statement, very similar to a full Budget.

Inspired by: Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/zero-budget-natural-farming-zbnf/

Answer: (c)

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF)

• ZBNF is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India.
• According to the “zero budget” concept, farmers won’t have to spend any money on fertilisers and other agricultural inputs.
• Over 98% of the nutrients that crops require — carbon dioxide, nitrogen, water, solar energy — are already present in nature.
• The remaining 1.5-2% are taken from the soil, after microorganisms convert them from “non-available” to “available” forms, for intake by the roots.

Four Wheels of ZBNF

• The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’, ‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.
• Jiwamrita is a fermented mixture of cow dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery, pulses flour, water and soil from the farm bund.
• This isn’t a fertiliser, but just a source of some 500 crore micro-organisms that can convert all the necessary “non-available” nutrients into “available” form.
• Bijamrita is a mix of desi cow dung and urine, water, bund soil and lime that is used as a seed treatment solution prior to sowing.
• Mulching, or covering the plants with a layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is meant to conserve soil moisture and keep the temperature around the roots at 25-32 degrees Celsius, which allows the microorganisms to do their job.
• Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain the required moisture-air balance, also achieves the same objective.
• Palekar also advocates the use of special ‘Agniastra’, ‘Bramhastra’ and ‘Neemastra’ concoctions — again based on desi cow urine and dung, plus pulp from leaves of neem, white datura, papaya, guava and pomegranates — for controlling pest and disease attacks.

Inspired by: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/bsf-launches-massive-exercise-to-fortify-anti-infiltration-grid-along-pak-border-in-punjab-jammu/articleshow/70115375.cms

Answer: (b)

Op Sudarshan

• A mega exercise to fortify the ‘anti-infiltration grid’ along the Pakistan border in Punjab and Jammu has been launched by the BSF, which has mobilised its entire senior field brass, thousands of troops and machinery deployed in these forward areas.
• The operation, code named ‘Sudarshan’, was launched on July 1 and will cover the entire over 1,000-kms length of the India-Pakistan International Border.

Inspired by: CSP 2017

Answer: (c)

• Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus).
• These are the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses.
• A pregnant woman already infected with Zika virus can pass the virus to her fetus during the pregnancy or around the time of birth.
• Zika can be transmitted sexually.
• https://www.cdc.gov/zika/prevention/transmission-methods.html