 India revokes Pak.

’s MFN status day after  Inter-State frictions are back in the Northeast
terrorist strike in J&K  Foreign Secretary briefs 25 envoys
 Bikaner land scam: ED attaches assets of Vadra  Why only bureaucrats on information panels,
 No change in China’s stance asks SC
 Suicide bomber set off a huge cache of RDX  Gaganyaan’s review panel to meet in March
 A game-changer express: Goyal  The lowdown on the MFN status
 U.S., UN condemn heinous attack  Trump declares emergency to build border wall
 No specific intel input: Vijay Kumar  Heralding a new dawn
Que. What is Vahan? How is it useful?
Ans. Vahan’ is the name of the national vehicle registry, which intends to collate all the information available
with road transport authorities for easy access by both citizens and regulators. Data available with over 90 per
cent of all road transport authorities including RTOs and district transport offices have been computerised so
far. As a result, Vahan now contains about 21.68 crore vehicle records in its repository. Vahan allows access
to all details related to vehicles such as registration number, chassis/engine number, body/fuel type, colour,
manufacturer and model and provides various online services to citizens. Driving Licence and related data are
automated through a separate application called ‘Sarathi’. The site is not fully operational yet, though some
segments of it are up and running.
Vahan has been designed to capture all the information mandated by the Central Motor Vehicle Act 1988 as
well as State Motor Vehicle Rules. It has been customised to suit the varied requirements of all States and
Union Territories. This way, the system ensures access to such information from anywhere. Besides,
centralisation of data through the creation of the State and National Registries under Vahan also helps address
the needs of RTOs, police and motor insurers.
With Vahan, multiple visits to the RTO, extensive paperwork, queues, middlemen and bribes will be a thing of
the past. Vahan helps carry out most of the RTO related transactions including payments, online.
Practice Questions
1. United Nations Security Council resolution 1267
2. Prespa agreement

Today’s MCQ
I. Which among the following is/are the advantage of ‘currency swap’:
a) Reduces costs and risks associated with currency exchange
b) Immune to the central government’s intervention in the exchange markets
c) Both (a) and (b)
d) Neither (a) nor (b)
II. Consider the following about ‘Rustom-2’:
1. Rustom-2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
2. It has been designed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance roles.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) Both 1 and 2
d) Neither 1 nor 2
III. Which of the following is/are covered under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana:
1. Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India (BGREI)
2. Saffron Mission
3. Beekeeping
4. Targeting Rice Fallow Areas
Select the correct answer from the codes given below.
a) 1 and 2 only b) 1, 2 and 3 only
c) 2 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
IV. On a direct road trip from New Delhi to the hill station of Auli in Uttarakhand, which of the
following places you are most likely to come across:
1. Rishikesh 2. Chandigarh 3. Karnaprayag
4. Srinagar (Uttarakhand) 5. Ambala
Select the correct answer from the codes given below.
a) 1, 2 and 3 only b) 2, 3 and 5 only
c) 1, 3 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
V. Central Vigilance Commission CVC has developed Integrity Index based on bench-marking of
internal processes and controls within an organization as well as management of relationships and
expectations of outside stakeholders. The Integrity Index will bring out annual scores/rankings of
which of the following?
1. Public Sector Undertakings
2. Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions
3. Departments/Ministries of Government of India
4. Departments/Ministries of State Governments
Select the correct answer from the codes given below.
a) 1, 2 and 3 only b) 2, 3 and 4 only
c) 3 and 4 only d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Today’s MCQ Answer & Explanation
I. Answer: a)
Explanation: A currency swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange the principal loan amount
and interest applicable on it in one currency with the principal and interest payments on an equal loan in
another currency. These contracts are valid for a specific period, which could range up to ten years, and are
typically used to exchange fixed-rate interest payments for floating-rate payments on dates specified by the
two parties.
Since the exchange of payment takes place in two different currencies, the prevailing spot rate is used to
calculate the payment amount. This financial instrument is used to hedge interest rate risks.
The benefits of currency swaps are:
• Help portfolio managers regulate their exposure to interest rates.
• Speculators can benefit from a favorable change in interest rates.
• Reduce uncertainty associated with future cash flows as it enables companies to modify their debt
conditions.
• Reduce costs and risks associated with currency exchange.
• Companies having fixed rate liabilities can capitalize on floating-rate swaps and vise versa, based on the
prevailing economic scenario.
The drawbacks of currency swaps are:
• Exposed to credit risk as either one or both the parties could default on interest and principal payments.
• Vulnerable to the central government’s intervention in the exchange markets. This happens when the
government of a country acquires huge foreign debts to temporarily support a declining currency. This leads to
a huge downturn in the value of the domestic currency.
II. Answer: c)
Explanation: Rustom-2 or TAPAS-BH-201 is a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV), designed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance roles for the Indian Armed Forces. It is capable
of carrying different combination of payloads including synthetic aperture radar, electronic intelligence
systems and situational awareness systems. The UAV has an endurance of 24 hours and is similar to the
American predator series of drones.
The DRDO Rustom is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) being developed by
Defence Research and Development Organisation for the three services, Indian Army, Indian Navy and the
Indian Air Force of the Indian Armed Forces.
There will be three variants of the Rustom UAV.
• Rustom-I: Tactical UAV with endurance of 12 hours (based on NAL's LCRA which was inspired by Burt
Rutan's Long-EZ)
• Rustom-H: Larger UAV with flight endurance of over 24 hours (completely different design from Rustom-
1), higher range and service ceiling than Rustom-1.
• Rustom-II: An unmanned combat air vehicle based on Rustom-H model. It is often compared with Predator
drones by Indian scientists and media.
III. Answer: d)
Explanation:
• RKVY has following sub-schemes:
1. Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern Region – This programme was initiated in 2010-11 targeting the
improvement in the rice based cropping system of Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern
Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
2. Initiative on Vegetable Clusters – Growing demand for vegetables was proposed to be met by a robust
increase in the productivity and market linkage. For the purpose, an efficient supply chain needed to be
established, to provide quality vegetables at competitive prices.
3. National Mission for Protein Supplements – National Mission for Protein Supplements was launched with
an allocation of Rs.300 crore during 2011-12 to take up activities to promote animal based protein
production through livestock development, dairy farming, piggery, goat rearing and fisheries in selected
blocks.
4. Saffron Mission – The Scheme was initiated in 2010-11 with an overall Government of India budgetary
support of Rs.288.06 crore over four years. The mission was meant to bring economic revival of J&K
Saffron.
5. Vidarbha Intensive Irrigation Development Programme – The Scheme was initiated in 2012-13 which seeks
to bring in more farming areas under protective irrigation.
6. Crop Diversification – The original Green Revolution States have the problem of stagnating yields and
over-exploitation of water resources. The answer lies in crop diversification
Now, the scheme has been rebranded as RKVY-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied
sector Rejuvenation (RAFTAAR) to be implemented for three years till 2019-20 with addition of a few
more sub-schemes.
IV. Answer: c)
Explanation:

V. Answer: a)
Explanation: • The CVC has decided to go in for development of the Integrity Index-based on bench-marking
of internal processes and controls within an organization as well as management of relationships and
expectations of outside stakeholders.
• The Integrity Index will bring out annual scores/rankings of Public Sector Undertakings/ Public Sector
Banks and Financial Institutions/Departments/Ministries of Government of India.