Prelims Exclusive Quiz - Day 1

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was founded in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. SAARC has 8 members which includes; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006. 2010-2020 is declared as the SAARC decade of Intra-regional Connectivity. It is headquartered in Kathmandu in Nepal.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a ₹880-crore contract with the Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) for 16,479 Light Machine Guns (LMG). The contracted Negev NG-7 7.62X51 mm LMG is a combat-proven weapon. It is developed by the Israeli firearm manufacturer, Israel Weapon Industries (IWI).

‘MSME Sambandh’ is a procurement portal monitoring the implementation of Public Procurement from MSMEs by Central Public Sector Enterprises. It will help MSMEs in participating in the procurement process.

The Defence Acquisition Council is the highest decision-making body in the Defence Ministry for deciding on new policies and capital acquisitions for the three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) and the Indian Coast Guard. The Minister of Defence is the Chairman of the Council. The Defence Acquisition Council does not include the Prime Minister and the National Security Advisor. The Defence Planning Committee is chaired by the National Security Advisor.

Reunion is an overseas region of the French Republic and an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius. The closest country to Reunion Island is Mauritius. France controls the overseas territories of Reunion Islands and Mayottein the Indian Ocean region.

The Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) is a disease surveillance scheme under the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs in India, assisted by the World Bank. The scheme aims to strengthen disease surveillance for infectious diseases to detect and respond to outbreaks quickly. The scheme seeks to set up a Central Disease Surveillance Unit and a State Surveillance Unit in each State where data is collected and analyzed. The Project was undertaken to meet the World Health Organization Guidelines for South East Asian countries on disease surveillance to track the outbreak of diseases and its potential trans-boundary threats.

Under India’s offset policy, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30 per cent of the total contract value in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and development facilities. Developing indigenous defence sector is the major objective of the defence offset scheme. The defence offset policy is a part of the Defence Procurement and Procedure (DPP). Major feature of the 2016 offset policy is that it increases the threshold of defence offset to Rs 2000 crore from the level of Rs 300 crores under “buy” and ‘buy and make” categories. This means that only those purchase of above Rs 2000 crore that the foreign company has to ensure 30% domestic value addition in India.

Olive Ridley turtles are among the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world. They are found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, but also in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Olive Ridley turtles and the related Kemps Ridley turtles are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed arribadas. It is listed as vulnerable under the IUCN Red list. In India, it is protected under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Trading in its products are banned under CITES.

• The Nirbhaya Fund Framework provides for a non-lapsable corpus fund for safety and security of women.


• The Nirbhaya Fund is administered by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).


• The Nirbhaya Fund Framework provides for an Empowered Committee (EC) of officers chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) to appraise and recommend proposals to be funded under this framework. The MWCD is responsible to review and monitor the progress of sanctioned projects/ schemes in conjunction with the concerned Central Ministries/ Departments.


• Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) has been funded under the Framework of Nirbhaya Fund to support States/ UTs for their Victim Compensation Scheme.

The National Human Rights Commission of India is a Statutory public body constituted on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Ordinance of 28 September 1993. It was given a statutory basis by the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. NHRC can only make recommendations, without the power to enforce decisions. Under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, human rights commissions cannot investigate an event if the complaint was made more than one year after the incident.