Ans: C

Exp:

Statement 1 is correct: The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) is a National level organisation set up under the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. It has the following two divisions:

• National Human Organ and Tissue Removal and Storage Network.
• National Biomaterial Centre (National Tissue Bank)

Statement 2 is correct: The National Human Organ and Tissue removal and Storage Network division (The National Network) of NOTTO has been mandated as per the Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act 2011. The network has been established initially for Delhi and is to be gradually expanded to include other regions of the country. Thus, this division of the NOTTO is the nodal networking agency for Delhi and shall network for the Procurement Allocation and Distribution of Organs and Tissues in Delhi. The  National Network division of NOTTO functions as an apex centre for All India activities of coordination and networking for procurement and distribution of Organs and Tissues and registry of Organs and Tissues Donation and Transplantation in the country. 

Statement 3 is correct:  The Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Act 2011 included the component of tissue donation and registration of tissue Banks. It had become imperative under the changed circumstances to establish National level Tissue Bank to fulfil the demands of tissue transplantation including activities for procurement, storage and distribution of biomaterials. Hence, the National Biomaterial Centre( National Tissue Bank) was established with the main objective of filling up the gap between ‘Demand’ and ‘Supply’ as well as ‘Quality Assurance’ in the availability of various tissues.

About Directorate General of Health Services:

• The Directorate General of Health Services (Dte. GHS) is a repository of technical knowledge concerning Public Health, Medical Education and Health Care.
• It is an attached organisation of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• The Dte.GHS is headed by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), a secretary-level officer of Central Health Services, who renders technical advice on all medical and public health matters to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Ans: A

Exp: 

Statement 1 is correct: The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based radio-navigation system consisting of a constellation of satellites broadcasting navigation signals and a network of ground stations and satellite control stations used for monitoring and control. The Global Positioning System, formally known as the Navstar Global Positioning System, was initiated as a joint civil/military technical program in 1973.

Statement 2 is incorrect: At present, there are thirty-one satellites that constitute the Global Positioning System, and they orbit the Earth at an altitude of approximately 11,000 miles providing users with accurate information on position, velocity, and time anywhere in the world and in all weather conditions. GPS is operated and maintained by the Department of Defense (DoD), United States of America. The National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Executive Committee (EXCOM)(United States of America)  provides guidance to the DoD on GPS-related matters impacting federal agencies to ensure the system addresses national priorities as well as military requirements.

Ans: C

Exp:

According to a report by Future Market Insight: Peer-to-peer lending, which sidesteps banks and financial institutions by connecting individual lenders with borrowers, has grown to $407 billion globally as of last year.

The Reserve Bank of India has told peer-to-peer lending platforms to halt certain activities after inspections found rule violations and misleading sales practices.

Statement 1 is correct: P2P intermediaries are a new class of Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). A non-banking financial company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 and is engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stock/bonds/ debentures/securities issued by government or local authority or other securities like marketable nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business, but does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity, industrial activity, sale/purchase/ construction of immovable property.

Statement 2 is correct: The P2P intermediaries provide the platform which pairs borrowers and individual lenders. It allows people to lend or borrow money from one another without going through a bank.

With P2P lending, borrowers take loans from individual investors who are willing to lend their own money for an agreed interest rate. The profile of a borrower is usually displayed on a P2P online platform where investors can reassess these profiles to determine whether they want to risk lending money to a borrower. The repayments are also made through the NBFC-P2P, which processes and forwards the payments to the lenders who invested in the loan. P2P  lending is also called social lending or crowd lending.

Ans: A

Exp

The first meeting of the National Traders’ Welfare Board (NTWB) was held on 5th December 2023 at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi under the chairmanship of Shri Sunil J. Singhi.

Statement 1 is correct: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has constituted the National Traders’ Welfare Board for the Welfare of Traders and their employees. NTWB has been constituted to advise the Government for the fulfilment of the following objectives:

• To identify policy measures to achieve the objective of the welfare of traders and their employees.
• To suggest simplifications in the Acts and Rules applicable to traders.
• To make recommendations to reduce the compliance burden of traders.
• To improve access to funds for traders.
• To make recommendations regarding social security benefits like insurance, pension, healthcare etc., for traders and their employees.
• To make recommendations to address any other problems and issues of traders and their employees.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Prime Minister of India is not the ex-officio Chairman of the National Traders’s Welfare Board.

The Board consist of the following members:

• One Chairperson (Non-Official)
• Up to 5 members (Non-Official) having special knowledge of matters relating to the technical or other aspects of retail trade
• Up to 10 members (Non-Official) representing Trade Associations.
• One Non-Official member representing each State and Union Territory
• 9 Ex-officio representatives from Ministries/Departments.
• Joint Secretary, DPIIT (dealing with Internal Trade) shall be the Convener of the Board.

Statement 3 is incorrect: The National Traders’ Welfare Board can make recommendations regarding social security benefits like insurance, pension, healthcare etc., for traders and their employees. However, it is not the nodal agency responsible for ensuring the implementation of the National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self-Employed (NPS-Traders) throughout the country.

The Government launched the National Pension Scheme for Traders and Self-Employed (NPS-Traders) in September 2019 for the welfare of traders, including retail shopkeepers. The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India. The scheme is being implemented through LIC and CSCs. LIC is the pension fund manager and is also responsible for pension payout.  It is a voluntary and co-contributory pension scheme.  Traders in the age group of 18-40 years with an annual turnover not exceeding Rs.1.5 crore and who are not members of EPFO/ESIC/MPS/PM-SYM or an income tax payer, can join the scheme.  In addition, eligible persons can also self-enrol. Under the scheme, 50% monthly contribution is payable by the beneficiary, and an equal matching contribution is paid by the Central Government.

Ans: D

Exp:

The United Nations celebrates December 5 as World Soil Day every year to commemorate the birthday of the late King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, for his lifelong commitment to raising awareness of the importance of sustainable soil management and rehabilitation for food security, poverty alleviation.

The soil-centric agriculture encompasses the following practices: 

• Adopt conservation agriculture, which involves no-till, residue mulch, crop rotations and the integration of crops with trees and livestock to restore soil nutrients and improve soil health.
• The age-old practice of broadcasting fertilisers should be discouraged by promoting the use of seed-cum-fertiliser drill machines to increase water use efficiency in the soil.
• Use of cover crops as well as the Use of mulching
• Encourage crop diversification and eliminate the practice of farm residue burning.
• Adopt direct-seeded and aerobic rice in place of traditional puddled and flooded rice.
• Practice carbon-farming as it offsets emissions and also restores degraded soils
• Reclamation of saline, alkaline and acidic soils; need-based use of micronutrients (zinc, iron, manganese, etc) and biofertilisers. 
• Mechanisation for deep placement of fertilisers is another option for fertiliser use efficiency. 
• Integrated nutrient management (using organic manures like cattle dung, vermicompost, and poultry manure in combination with mineral fertilisers) could considerably improve soil health as well as crop yields. 
• The use of happy turbo seeder in the rice-wheat system also ensures in situ conservation of straw, resulting in increased soil organic carbon (SOC).