Current Affairs & General Knowledge Test - 13

Sikkim, the North-Eastern state of India became the 22nd State by the 36th Amendment to the Constitution in 1975. In 1974, the Sikkim Assembly passed a Government of Sikkim Act, 1974, which paved the way for setting up the first ever responsible Government in Sikkim and sought Sikkim’s representation in the political institutions of India. India also passed the 35th Amendment Act 1974 which inserted a new Article 2A {Sikkim to be Associate State} and as 36th Amendment Act (1975) integrated Sikkim as the full-fledged state of India (22nd State).

The central government's development expenditure does not include defense expenditure.

It is the money incurred by the government on the social and economic development of the country. Expenditure on economic service, expenditure on social and communist services, grants to states are examples of developmental expenditures.

It refers to the expenditure incurred by the government on essential general services like expenditure on defence, administration, pensions etc.

The Gobi Desert is located in Mongolia.

It is overall a cold desert. It is famous for its dinosaur fossil treasures. The area covered by Gobi Desert 1.295 million km². The Gobi Desert basin lies across southern Mongolia and northwestern China between the Mongolian Altai and Khangai mountains and the Himalayan Plateau.

To expand public sector, to enhance gainful employment was an objective of the 1956 Industrial Policy.

The objective of Industrial policy 1956:

• The expansion of the public sector.
• Acceleration of public growth.
• The building up of a large and growing Private sector.
• The reduction of existing disparities in income and wealth.
• To enhance gainful employment.
• The prevention of private monopolies and the concentration of economic power of the field in different hands of a small number of individuals.

The Amara-nayaka system was a major political innovation of the Vijayanagara Empire.

Most probably many features of this system were derived from the data system of Delhi Sultanate.

In the given Articles, Article 19 belongs to different category as it comes in the category of Right to Freedom. Article 19 deals with the Protection of certain Rights such as

(a) freedom of speech and expression

(b) To assemble peaceably and without arms

(c) To form association or unions

(d) To move freely throughout the territory of India

(e) To reside and settle in any part of the territory of India

(f) to practice any profession, or to carry any occupation, trade, and business.

Kotak Mahindra Bank has completed technical integration with the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax (IT) department in July . After this, it has become the first private bank to fully integrate with this portal.

• Its customers can now pay their dire

  Kotak Mahindra Bank has completed technical integration with the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax (IT) department in July . After this, it has become the first private bank to fully integrate with this portal.

• Its customers can now pay their direct taxes through the e-pay tax tab on the portal using Kotak net banking or by visiting a branch.
• ct taxes through the e-pay tax tab on the portal using Kotak net banking or by visiting a branch.

An equinox is an event in which a planet’s subsolar point passes through its Equator. The equinoxes are the only time when both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience roughly equal amounts of daytime and nighttime.

• There are two equinoxes every year: one around March 21 and another around September 23.
• Sometimes, the equinoxes are nicknamed the “vernal equinox” (spring equinox) and the “autumnal equinox” (fall equinox).
• During the equinoxes, solar declination is 0°. Solar declination describes the latitude of the Earth where the sun is directly overhead at noon. 
• The subsolar point is an area where the sun's rays shine perpendicular to the Earth's surface at a right angle.
• Only during equinox is the Earth's 23.5° axis not tilting toward or away from the sun: the perceived center of the Sun’s disk is in the same plane as the Equator.

Nadia Calvino assumed office as the new president of the European Investment Bank on January 1, making her the first woman and the first Spaniard to hold this position in the institution's history.