Other salient features of this proposed Food Security Bill are –
- 67% of Indian population would be covered under this plan
- Rice will be supplied at Rs. 3 per kg to all beneficiaries
- Wheat will be supplied at Rs. 2 per kg to all beneficiaries
- Coarse grains will be supplied at Rs. 1 per kg to all beneficiaries
- About 2.43 crore poorest of the poor families covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme under PDS would get legal entitlement to 35 kg of food-grain per family per month
- Food-grains requirement is expected to be 61.23 million tonnes in the proposed plan
- Extra burden of Rs. 20,000 crore will be accrued on the state exchequer on account of this plan
- Prices of food-grains provided under the plan to be revised after three years from the implementation of the act
2) The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill-2013, also known as the so-called anti-rape Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on 19 March 2013, seeks to amend which acts/codes of Indian criminal laws? –
- A) Indian Penal Code
- B) Code of Criminal Procedure
- C) Indian Evidence Act
- D) Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act
3) DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), which withdrew its support from the UPA led Union Govt. on 19 March 2013, has how many members in the Lok Sabha? – 18 (DMK had 5 ministers in the Centre including one cabinet minister. However, the Union Govt. is not under any immediate danger as it enjoys outside support of SP (22 members in Lok Sabha) and BSP (21 members). UPA’s claimed numbers in the Lok Sabha stood at 283, still above the required majority mark of 272)
4) Reserve Bank of India on 19 March 2013 reduced the Repo Rate by 0.25%, after which expectations of lowering of lending rates by banks have arisen. What is the new Repo Rate after this reduction? – 7.5% (This reduction in Repo Rate was announced in RBI’s mid-quarter monetary policy review. The short term borrowing rate, popularly known as Reverse Repo Rate, was also reduced by 0.25%, which is now 6.5%. However, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) remained unchanged at 4%. Repo Rate is the interest rate at which banks borrow short-term cash from the RBI whereas Reverse Repo Rate is the rate at which banks provide short-term cash to the RBI)
5) What are the prime objectives of The Electronic Services Bill, which was approved the Union Cabinet on 18 March 2013? – This bill mandates all central and state govt. departments that offer public services to start providing all services to citizens through electronic medium within a span of 8 years (This bill is of directive nature and gives time of 5 years to central and state govt. to notify the services that would be provided through electric medium. After this 3 year’s extra time has been provided under the bill to initiate these services in the recommended format)
6) Chinese President Xi Jinping on 19 March 2013 unveiled how many point formula to improve ties with India? – 5-Point Formula
Chinese President’s 5-point formula includes :
- A) China and India should maintain strategic communication and keep the bilateral relations on the right track
- B) Both countries should harness each other’s comparative strengths and expand win-win cooperation in infrastructure, mutual investment and other areas
- C) India and China should strengthen cultural ties and constantly increase the mutually expanding friendship between the two countries
- D) The two countries should expand coordination and collaboration in multi-lateral fora to jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries and tackle global challenges
- E) Both countries should accommodate each other’s core concerns and properly handle problems and differences existing between the two countries
7) KK Birla Foundation’s prestigious Saraswati Samman 2012 has been conferred on which poetess recently? – Malayalam poetess Sugathakumari for her poetry collection titled “Manalezhuthu”, which means writings on the sand (Saraswati Samman carries a cash prize of Rs. 10 lakh and is conferred annually for literary works in any language included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Justice RC Lahoti is the chairman of the 13-member jury, which selected the awardee)
8) How much money was recently infused into the State Bank of India (SBI), country’s largest bank, by the union govt. recently, as part of its plan of recapitalization of state-run banks? – Rs. 3004 crore (With this fresh infusion Union govt.’s holding in SBI has increased from 61.58% to 62.31%. It should be noted that Government plans to infuse around Rs 14,000 crore in state-run banks this fiscal to boost their core capital ratios as they prepare to comply with the Basel-III guidelines, which will start from 1 April 2013)
9) Market regulator SEBI on 19 March 2013 issued guidelines pertaining to product labelling with colour coding of mutual fund products, which will be effective from 1 July 2013. How many colours have been made available in this colour coding scheme? – Three colours – Blue, Yellow and Brown (A blue colour coded box would indicate low risk, yellow would signify a medium risk, while brown would represent schemes with high risk. As per the guidelines issued by the SEBI, product labels carrying details about the schemes would be disclosed on the front page of initial offerings’ application forms)
10) Which team won the 22nd edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup, which concluded on 17 March 2013? – Australia, who defeated hosts Malaysia by 3-2 in the finals (This cup was held in Ipoh Malaysia from 9 March to 17 March 2013. Korea finished third in the tournament while Indiafinished 5th)
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