Daily UPSC Prelims Current Affairs – May 7-8, 2023 [Mock Test]
May 24, 2023 May 24, 2023
1. With respect to the Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF), consider the following statements:
- It will be managed by the State Bank of India.
- It will be used by public agencies to create urban infrastructure in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- All cities and towns will be enabled for 100% mechanical desludging of septic tanks.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
[A] Only 1
[B] Only 3
[C] Only 1 & 2
[D] 1, 2 & 3
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Only 3]
Notes:- Urban Infrastructure Development Fund (UIDF) was established through priority sector lending shortfall.
- It will be managed by the National Housing Bank.
- It will be used by public agencies to create urban infrastructure in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- Tier II cities are those which have a population range of 50,000 to 100,000
- Tier III cities are classified as those with a population of 20,000 to 50,000.
- All cities and towns will be enabled for 100% mechanical desludging of septic tanks and sewers to transition from manhole to machine-hole mode.
- Enhanced focus will be provided for scientific management of dry and wet waste.
- The cities will be incentivized to improve their credit worthiness for municipal bonds.
2. Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) was in news recently, it was introduced by which of the following organizations/institutes?
[A] National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
[B] National Institution for Transforming India
[C] Reserve Bank of India
[D] Securities and Exchange Board of India
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Securities and Exchange Board of India ]
Notes:- Application Supported by Blocked Amount (ASBA) was introduced by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2008.
- ASBA is an application containing an authorization to block the application money in the bank account, for subscribing to an initial public offering (IPO).
- ASBA gives an explicit authorisation to a Self-Certified Syndicate Bank (SCSB) to block the application money in the bank account for subscribing to an issue (IPO).
- SCSBs are SEBI authorized banks that confirm to the conditions laid by SEBI and capable of providing ASBA services to its customers.
- SEBI has introduced (ASBA)-like facility for trading in the secondary market.
- ASBA in secondary market trading will ensure that clients will continue to earn interest on the blocked funds in their savings account till the debit takes place.
3. Consider the following statements with respect to the recently launched device TEMPO:
- It has been launched by Australian government to monitor the impact of climate change on coral bleaching.
- It will be placed in low Earth orbit.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
[A] Only 1
[B] Only 2
[C] Both 1 & 2
[D] Neither 1 nor 2
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [Neither 1 nor 2]
Notes:- The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) instrument was launched by NASA in a Falcon 9 rocket. The instrument will measure pollution and air quality across greater North America on an hourly basis during the daytime.
- Existing pollution-monitoring satellites are in low Earth orbit (LEO), but TEMPO will be hosted in geostationary orbit.
- TEMPO will be part of a constellation of instruments measuring air quality over the Northern Hemisphere which includes the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-4 (under development) and South Korea’s Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer.
