Directions (Qs. 1-5): Read the above passage and answer the below questions The conducted its biggest airborne exercise called the ‘X’ comprising of more than 500 Special Forces troops in the North-Eastern theatre. The exercise conducted on January 10 had over 500 soldiers of the Special Forces parachuting from C- 130 Hercules and C-17 globe master transport aircraft of the , besides Dhruv helicopters during the day and night. The exercise was preceded by a series of intense preparations involving movement of Special Forces and rallying up of transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force starting from January 6.

2 “The newly inducted aerial platforms and equipment were validated with clockwork precision and seamless integration between the Indian Army and Indian Air Force in difficult terrain. Exercise ‘X’ demonstrated the operational readiness of our Paratroopers and Air Warriors to undertake airborne missions,” the army said in a statement.

3 Previously in October last year, the army carried out Exercise ‘Y’ to test its new war-fighting concept of Integrated Battle Groups (IBG) in mountain warfare under the 17 Corps in Arunachal Pradesh. An IBG, which has a varying mix of infantry, tanks, artillery, air defence, signals and logistics, is part of the army’s plan to restructure itself to meet emerging challenges. Army Chief had earlier said that the initial report of ‘Y’ was “encouraging,’’ adding that a lesson learnt was the need for better communications.

4 1. In the above passage biggest airborne exercise of Indian Army which is mentioned as ‘X’ is.....? (a) Winged Raider (b) Yudh Abhyas (c) Himalayan Warrior (d) HimVijay

5 2. Exercise ...... of the Indian Army was carried out to test its new war-fighting concept of Integrated Battle Groups (IBG) in mountain warfare. (a) Himalayan Warrior (b) HimVijay (c) Yudh Abhyas (d) Winged Raider

6 3. At which place the third edition of joint naval exercises between and AustraliaAUSINDEX took place? (a) Kochi (b) Mumbai (c) Visakhapatnam (d) Chennai

7 4. Which of the two nations participated in naval exercise -Sea Guardians-2020? (a) India and Japan (b) India and United States (c) China and (d) China and Pakistan

8 5. Which of the nations participated in the joint exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’? (a) India and Kazakhstan (b) India and Japan (c) China and Nepal (d) China and Pakistan

9 Directions(Qs. 1-5): Read the above passage and answer the below questions In the wake of protests against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Lieutenant governor of Delhi passed the order authorising police to place the city under the Act for ‘X’ months. The Act allows police to detain a person for months if it feels that he/ she is a threat to national security. The individual also need not be informed of the charges for 10 days.

10 While the Union home ministry has downplayed the situation, a senior Central government official said that it was “a routine affair and the notification was renewed from time to time.” “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (3) of section 3, read with clause (c) of Section 2 of the Act, the Lt Governor pleased to direct that during the period January 19 to April 18, the Delhi Police Commissioner may also exercise the powers of detaining authority under sub-section (2) of the section 3 of the aforesaid Act,” the notification stated.

11 1. The LG of Delhi recently passed the above mentioned order under which of the following acts? (a) Maintenance of Internal Security Act (b) National Security Act (c) Preventive Detention Act (d) Terrorism Act

12 2. In which year the National security Act was passed in India? (a) 1974 (b) 1980 (c) 1994 (d) 2003

13 3. Which of the state governments has invoked the Preventive Detention Act and the National Security Act in January 2020? (a) Punjab (b) Rajasthan (c) Andhra Pradesh (d) None of these

14 4. Delhi placed under the above mentioned act for ...... month, according to recent order? (a) 1 month (b) 3 months (c) 6 months (d) 12 months

15 5. Under the above mentioned act what is the duration to which a person can be detained without a charge? (a) 3 months (b) 6 months (c) 1 year (d) 3 Years

16 17 18 REJOINS COMMONWEALTH

• Maldives has recently rejoined the Commonwealth, bringing the total number of nations in the global organization to 54.

• Maldives last joined the Commonwealth in 1982 but quit it in 2016 after being threatened with suspension over its human rights record and lack of progress on democratic reform.

19 • The new government in Maldives, after 2018 elections, has undergone various reforms such as freeing of political prisoners and return of exiled opposition figures and applied to rejoin the Commonwealth in December, 2018.

• It will now be part of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2020.

20 The Commonwealth

It is s a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries, mostly former territories of the British Empire. o Rwanda and Mozambique - have no historical ties to the British Empire.

21 AFRICAN UNION (AU)

• The annual African Union Summit was held in in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. • AU is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent. • Its secretariat is at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. • It was officially launched in 2002 in Durban, South Africa as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity.

22 FINANCIAL SECRECY INDEX (FSI) – 2020

• The index was launched by Tax Justice Network (TJN), an independent international network. • FSI ranks jurisdictions according to their secrecy and scale of their offshore financial activities, every two years.

23 • Cayman Island ranked first, moving up two slots from the 2018 ranking. US continued to retain its second position. India ranks 47 out of 133 countries.

24 FDI IN INDIA: Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI in India during the last fiscal with $ 14.67 billion investments. It was followed by ($ 8.24 billion), the Netherlands ($ 6.5 billion), the US ($ 4.22 billion), Caymen Islands ($ 3.7 billion), Japan ($ 3.22 billion), and France ($ 1.89 billion).

25 FDI POLICY IN INSURANCE SECTOR

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) recently allowed 100% FDI in insurance intermediaries through the automatic route. • The FDI policy earlier allowed 49% foreign investment in the insurance sector, which includes insurance intermediaries.

26 MARKET INTELLIGENCE AND EARLY WARNING SYSTEM PORTAL

• Recently, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) launched Market Intelligence and Early Warning System (MIEWS) portal.

27 • It will provide ‘real time monitoring’ of prices of tomato, onion and potato (TOP) and for simultaneously generating alerts for intervention under the terms of the Operation Greens (OG) scheme.

• It will enable the government to monitor the supply situation for timely market interventions and price stabilisation in case of a price crash during a glut.

28 • Operation Greens launched by MoFPI, with an outlay of Rs 500 crores, aims to stabilize the supply of TOP crops and to ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country round the year without price volatility

29 SPICE+ WEB FORM

• Ministry of Corporate affairs has launched Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus (SPICe+) to make it easier for incorporating business in India. • It was issued as part of Centre’s Ease of Doing Business initiative to ease starting business.

30 • It integrates 10 services from various ministries and departments into one form. • It is a collaboration of Ministries of Corporate affairs and Labour & Employment; Department of Revenue and Maharashtra government. • It also provides for Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) registration

31 LIGHT COMBAT HELICOPTERS (LCH)

• LCH production centre was inaugurated in Bengaluru, under the Make in India initiative. • LCH is a 5.5-tonne class multi-role combat helicopter designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautical limited (HAL). • It is powered by two Shakti engines and inherits many technical features of the Advanced Light Helicopter.

32 HAL Dhruv (Advance Light Helicopter):

• It is a multi-role and multi-mission helicopter, intended for both military and civil operators. • Current military operators of the HAL Dhruv are India, Bolivia, Burma, , Maldives and Nepal.

33 PRANASH MISSILE

• DRDO is developing the 200-km strike range Pranash ballistic missile which would be used for tactical missions. • It is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile and will be used by the Army and the Air Force for destroying enemy targets at short ranges.

34 • The missile would be an advanced version of the 150- km strike range Prahar missile developed by the DRDO • It will be a non-nuclear missile and will be propelled by a single-stage solid propellant engine. • It will be one of the cheapest missiles in the world in its range category.

35 • The missile could be exported to friendly foreign countries as it is outside the purview of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which places export restrictions on missiles with ranges of more than 300km.

36 EXERCISES

• Sampriti- IX: It is joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh recently held at Umroi, Meghalaya. • Indradhanush – V 2020: It is joint air force between India and United Kingdom recently held at Air Force Station Hindon in Uttar Pradesh. • Ajeya Warrior-2020: It is joint military exercise between India and United Kingdom recently held at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom.

37 NORTHERN EUROPEAN ENCLOSURE DAM (NEED)

• Recently, a Dutch government’s proposal to build two mega dams to separate the North Sea from the Atlantic Sea, is being hailed as a future solution to defend northern Europe from rising sea levels.

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