Daily Quiz – 17th Jan 2024

Explanation:

• MPLADS funds must be used to create durable assets like physical infrastructure for health, education, etc.
• MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 percent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by SC population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by ST population.
• Funds released to the District Authority by the Government of India are non-lapsable.
• Funds left in the district can be carried forward for utilisation in the subsequent years.
• The District Authority would be responsible for overall coordination and supervision of the works under the scheme at the district level and inspect at least 10% of the works under implementation every year.
• Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme was introduced in December 1993.
• It empowers every Member of Parliament (MP) to spend a certain sum of money on the development of his/her constituency on various social development areas such as health, education, drinking water, electricity, family welfare, sanitation and so on.
• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been responsible for the policy formulation, release of funds and prescribing monitoring mechanism for implementation of the Scheme.
• The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by the Government of India.
• The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crores

Explanation:

The India Sanitation Coalition:

• It was launched on June 25, 2015, at FICCI, New Delhi.
• It is a multi-stakeholder platform that brings together the private sector, government, financial institutions, civil society groups, media, donors/bi-lateral/multilateral, experts, etc. to work in the sanitation space to drive sustainable sanitation through a partnership model. The vision of the alliance is to enable and support an ecosystem for sustainable sanitation through a partnership mode.
• It currently has over 150 organisations that are engaging with it in various capacities. We have been awarded as a top contributor in the “Corporate Category” for the Swachh Bharat Mission by The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India in 2018.

The National Institute of Urban Affairs

• It is an institute for research, training, and information dissemination in urban development and management.
• It is located in New Delhi, India.
• It was established in 1976 as an autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act.
• The Institute is supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the Government of India, State Governments, urban and regional development authorities, and other agencies concerned with urban issues. It is not the apex body of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• As a hub for the generation and dissemination of cutting-edge research in the urban sector, NIUA seeks to provide innovative solutions to address the challenges of a fast-urbanising India, and pave the way for more inclusive and sustainable cities of the future

Explanation:

Arthashastra:

• The Arthashastra states that a man could not be a slave either by birth, by voluntarily selling himself, by being captured in war, or as a result of judicial punishment. Slavery was a recognized institution and the legal relationship between master and slave was clearly defined e.g. if a female slave bore her master a son,
  • She was legally free, and
  • the son was entitled to the legal status of the master's son.
• When a female slave gives birth to a child of her master, both the child and its mother shall be considered free at once. If the mother is to be in bondage for sustenance, her brother and sister will be set free.
• Selling or pawning the life of a male or female slave once freed shall be punished with a fine of 12 panas, except those who enslave themselves.
• The Mauryan empire was a vast territorial entity. Various levels of administration were required to govern it well.
• The Arthashastra, Greek accounts and Ashokan inscriptions give us a good idea about the administrative system.
• According to the Arthshastra of Kautilya, a striking development of the Mauryan period was the employment of slaves in agricultural operations.
• Domestic slaves were found in India from Vedic times onwards. However, ancient Indian society was not a slave society.
• Kautilya’s Arthashastra contains 15 adhikaranas or books.
  • The first five deal with ‘tantra’ i.e. internal administration of the state.
  • The next eight deal with ‘avapa’ or its relations with neighbouring states.
  • The last two are miscellaneous in character. ​
• ​Arthshastra deals with problems of administration as well as laws of property and crime.
• ​Arthshastra argues the case for a fully-centralised government for the empire.
• It also mentions female bodyguards and spies that Mauryan rulers maintained. These female bodyguards were skilled in archery.

Explanation:

Attractive features of Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) displays using plastic substrate are:

• They are ultrathin and light.
• Besides, it can be fabricated on flexible plastic to utilise the flexibility of the substrate.
• Also, can be fabricated on Roll-up displays embedded in clothing and
• Transparent displays are also possible.
• The key issue in achieving such displays is how to protect OLEDs from oxygen and moisture.

Explanation:

The Reserve Bank of India:

• It was established on April 1, 1935, by the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• The Central Office of the Reserve Bank was initially established in Calcutta but was permanently moved to Mumbai in 1937. The Central Office is where the Governor sits and where policies are formulated.
• Though originally privately owned, since its nationalisation in 1949, the Reserve Bank is fully owned by the Government of India.

Major Functions:

• To regulate the issue of Bank notes and keeping of reserves to secure monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage.
• To have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex economy.
• To maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.