General Awareness - 2

The National Development Council (NDC) is the highest body responsible for approving Five Year Plans in India. Chaired by the Prime Minister and including all Chief Ministers, the NDC provides the final political approval to the plans drafted by the Planning Commission. The Planning Committee and Union Cabinet are involved in the process but do not have the final authority.

Article 76 of the Constitution designates the Attorney-General of India as the chief legal advisor to the Government of India. The Attorney-General has the right to participate in proceedings of Parliament (but not vote) and can be invited to give opinions on legal matters. The Chief Justice and CAG do not have this constitutional privilege.

Dumping is the practice of exporting goods to another country at a price lower than their domestic price or cost of production. This is often done to gain market share by undercutting local competitors. Price discrimination involves charging different prices to different consumers, while double pricing is not a standard trade term.

The DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) or 'triple vaccine' protects against these three serious bacterial diseases. Whooping cough is the common name for pertussis. Measles, rubella, and smallpox are covered by different vaccines (MMR, measles, smallpox).

The Peacock Throne was commissioned by Shah Jahan and was housed in the Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience) of the Red Fort in Delhi. It was an elaborate throne adorned with precious jewels, including the Kohinoor diamond. Fatehpur Sikri's Diwan-i-Khas and Rang Mahal housed other imperial functions but not the Peacock Throne.

Bande Mataram was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya in 1875 and published in his novel 'Anandamath' in 1882. It became a rallying song during the Indian independence movement. Rabindranath Tagore wrote 'Jana Gana Mana', while Sarat Chandra and Surendranath were other prominent Bengali figures but not authors of this song.

Habeas Corpus (Latin for 'you may have the body') is a writ that protects individual freedom against illegal detention. It compels authorities to produce a detained person before court to determine legality of detention. Mandamus directs official duty, Quo Warranto challenges position holding, and Certiorari quashes lower court orders.

Gandhiji promoted Khadi as a symbol of economic independence and self-reliance (swadeshi). Spinning khadi meant boycotting British textiles and creating rural employment. It represented freedom from foreign economic dependence, not just moral purity or industrial growth in the Western sense.

The Indian subcontinent was originally part of the Gondwana supercontinent, which existed around 550-180 million years ago. It included present-day South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and India. Angaraland was in the Northern Hemisphere, and Aryavarta is a cultural term, not a geological continent.

Canada is historically the largest producer of uranium in the world, with major mines in Saskatchewan province. Kazakhstan and Australia are also significant producers, but Canada has led production for many decades. Namibia and USA are smaller producers compared to these top three.

Plasma is the fluid (straw-colored liquid) portion of blood that remains when red and white blood cells and platelets are removed. It contains water, proteins, electrolytes, and transports nutrients, hormones, and waste products. Serum is similar but lacks clotting factors, while lymph and tissue fluid are different bodily fluids.

Gregor Mendel formulated the fundamental laws of heredity through his pea plant experiments in the 1860s, establishing the principles of segregation and independent assortment. Mendeleev developed the periodic table, Pavlov studied conditioned reflexes, and Koch discovered the tuberculosis bacillus - none worked on inheritance patterns.

India's rainforests are primarily concentrated in two regions: the Northeast Himalayas (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura) and the Western Ghats (Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu). These areas receive very high rainfall (over 2500mm annually) and support tropical evergreen forests. Central India, Eastern Ghats, and Northwest Himalayas have different vegetation types due to lower rainfall.

Polythene (polyethylene) is a polymer formed by the polymerization of ethylene (ethene) molecules. Multiple ethylene monomers (C2H4) join together to form long chains of -(CH2-CH2)- repeating units. Propylene makes polypropylene, acetylene polymerizes differently, and aniline produces polyaniline - none produce polythene.

Silver bromide (AgBr) is the light-sensitive compound used in photographic film and paper due to its photochemical properties - it darkens when exposed to light. Silver chloride is also light-sensitive but less commonly used in film. Silver sulphate and silver nitrate are not used in photographic emulsions.

The Prime Lending Rate (PLR) is determined by individual banks based on their cost of funds and market conditions, not set by RBI. RBI directly controls Bank Rate, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) as monetary policy tools. PLR is a benchmark rate set autonomously by commercial banks.

The United Nations declared 2008 as the International Year of Potato to raise awareness about potato's role in agriculture, food security, and poverty alleviation worldwide. This celebrated the potato's importance as a staple crop supporting millions of farmers globally.

Goa was a Portuguese colony until 1961, never a French settlement. The French had five territories in India: Pondicherry (Puducherry), Mahe, Karaikal, Yanaon, and Chandannagar (Chandarnagar). Goa is the only option among these that was not under French control.

New capital issues (IPOs, FPOs) are offered in the primary market where companies directly raise funds from investors. The secondary market trades existing securities, grey market deals with unofficial trading before listing, and black market refers to illegal transactions. Primary market is where capital formation occurs.

Scientific names of animals follow binomial nomenclature developed by Linnaeus and are written in Latin, which serves as the universal language of taxonomy. Latin provides a standardized, unchanging nomenclature system used worldwide to avoid confusion from local or common names.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau introduced the concept of 'General Will' (volonte generale) in his 1762 work 'The Social Contract', arguing that legitimate authority comes from the collective will of the people acting in the common interest. Hume focused on empiricism, Hegel on dialectics, and Kant on moral philosophy - none developed the General Will concept.

Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu, at the foothills of the Blue Mountains. It was established in 1940 and was the first wildlife sanctuary in South India. The sanctuary borders Karnataka and Kerala, forming part of the larger Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

Sir Isaac Newton formulated the Law of Universal Gravitation in 1687, published in his work Principia Mathematica. This law explains the gravitational attraction between two masses and is foundational to classical physics.