21st and 22nd March 2018 The Hindu and PIB News Analysis

Daily Prelims Practice Question :

1) ‘SFOORTI’ application of the Government of India will help

(a) Plan traffic flows and optimise freight operations of the Indian Railways
(b) Provide employment opportunities to more than 3 lakh artisans belonging to minority communities
(c) Citizens access central government services in a time-bound manner
(d) Citizens participate in policy formulation and programme implementation to usher in an era of direct participatory democracy

2)The ‘City Liveability Index’ was recently launched by

(a) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(b) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
(c) Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
(d) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

3)The ‘Bharat Parv’ event is being organised by the Government of India at the Red Fort as part of the Republic Day 2018 celebrations. The nodal ministry for the event is the
(a) Ministry of Culture
(b) Ministry of Tourism
(c) Ministry of Railways
(d) Ministry of Human Resource Department


1)Today is World Water Day I.e on 22nd March.

22nd April is World Earth Day.

2)Government launches Sand Mining Framework to check illegal extraction:- The Union Ministry of Mines has launched Sand Mining Framework to help states deal with the sand mining issues, including demand supply deficit and illegal extraction. It was launched at the third National Conclave on Mines & Minerals held in New Delhi.

3)BIRAC celebrates its 6th Foundation Day:- The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) celebrated its sixth Foundation Day.

The observance of the day was themed around ‘Sustaining Innovation – A Market Driven Pathway’.

BIRAC is not-for-profit Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) set up by DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology to empower emerging biotech industry to undertake strategic research and innovation. It is basically industry academia interface.

4)National Cultural Audiovisual Archives becomes world’s first Trusted Digital Repository :- The National Cultural Audiovisual Archives (NCAA) project of Ministry of Culture was certified as world’s first Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO 16363:2012 standard.

About NCAA :- NCAA is implemented by Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). Its primary objective is to identify and preserve cultural heritage of India available in audiovisual form through process of digitization and make it accessible to the people.

About IGNCA:- Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has been set up by Government as premier research institute dedicated to holistic understanding and expression of Indian arts in their inter and multi-disciplinary nature.

Its principal aim is to serve as major national resource centre for the arts.
It is nodal agency for data bank on art, humanities and cultural heritage. 
It also has been identified by UNESCO as nodal agency for development of regional databases for South and South East Asian countries on art, cultural heritage and life-styles.

5)Government to set up Plastic Park in Jharkhand‘s Deoghar District:- The Union Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers has approved proposal of setting up of Plastic Park in Deoghar District, Jharkhand.

The plastic park will manufacture range of polymer products including woven sacks, moulded furniture, water tanks, bottles, pipes mosquito nets, etc. 

It will have great potential for attracting investment for setting up ecosystem for plastic industry and generate employment opportunities for the local Populaton.

6)Your Personal Facebook Data in Danger :- Data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica (CA), a subsidiary of the U.K.based SCL Group, was suspended by social media company Facebook for not deleting user data obtained from an app developer for the platform.

7)Nod for Ayushman Bharat health scheme:- The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the launch of the Ayushman Bharat — National Health Protection Mission (ABNHPM), which was announced in the Budget.

The scheme will provide a cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year.

The target beneficiaries will be more than 10 crore families belonging to poor and vulnerable population based on SECC database.

8)Cabinet has given Approval to add Parivara and Talwara Communities as synonym of Nayakas in the List of STs in Karnataka.