GK Questions About Kerala

D [Maldives]

Notes:The Kerala government and the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) have jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Maldives (GoM) to strengthen cancer care in the island nation. The aim of the pact is to bolster cancer care programmes in the Maldives through the expertise of RCC.  As part of the agreement, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory staff with the health care centres in the Maldives are to be provided with special training at RCC.

B [1, 2 & 3 Only ]

Notes:Ilmenite, Zirecon and Sillimanite are found in kollam district in Kerala but tungsten is not found in the beach sands of Kerala.

A [Only 1 is correct]

Notes:

Statement 1 is correct:The report on the Child Well-Being Index was published by NGO World Vision India and research institute IFMR LEAD. The index takes a comprehensive view of child well-being in the states through use of 24 indicators. Among the states, Kerala was ranked at the top. Other top rankers are TN, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry.

Statement 2 is incorrect:The least performance in the child well-being aspect was from Madhya Pradesh. It has the highest crime rate against children. It also scored poorly in the survival and nutrition aspects. Other poor performers are Jharkhand and Meghalaya. The report provides insights into the state policies’ shortcomings and could be used for framing better functioning programs.

B [Only 2 is correct]

Notes:

Statement 1 is incorrect:The Silver Line project is to feature semi high speed trains. The railway line for this project is to be 532 km long. The existing lines along the route are not to be used. The railway ministry and the state government are implementing the project on a cost sharing basis.

 Statement 2 is correct:The Silver Line project is to come up in Kerala. It is to connect Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram which are at the state’s corners. Major towns and districts are to be connected by semi high speed trains with their own dedicated tracks.

C [Neither 1 nor 2 is correct]

Notes:

Statement 1 is incorrect:A Kerala village recently named the road from Kuntangeradka to Bejappe after the orange breasted green pigeon. The road was named as Manjavariyan Road and is about 2km long. The species was spotted for the first time in the region in 2016. It is not endemic to India. It is also found in other countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.

Statement 2 is incorrect:IUCN has listed the orange breasted green pigeon as a species of least concern. It is especially found in the forested regions of Western and Eastern Ghats in south India. In the north, it is found in lower Himalayan regions.

D [Both 1 and 2 are correct]

Notes:

Statement 1 is correct:The SDG India Index is published by NITI Aayog and developed by collaboration of the UN and Global Green Growth Institute apart from the ministry of statistics and program implementation. The 2nd edition of the index listed Kerala as the top performing state with a score of 70. The overall composite score of India has improved to 60 from previous 57.

Statement 2 is correct:      Bihar was included under the ‘Performer’ category (score range: 50 to 64). Previously, it was listed under the ‘Aspirant’ category (0 to 49). The other two categories are ‘Front Runner (score range: 65 to 99) and ‘Achiever’ (score: 100).  Bihar was the worst performer as listed by the index.

C [Real Estate]

Notes:

The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan recently launched the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority ‘K-RERA’ to boost the confidence of customers and make the real estate sector more transparent. Under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, passed in 2016, all state governments were directed to establish the regulating authority for real estate sector, RERA for regulation and dispute redressal in the sector.

B [Only 2 is correct]

Notes:

Statement 1 is incorrect:The Poshan Abhiyan fund utilisation was recently discussed in Parliament. Only 30% of the funds have been utilised over a period of 3 years. Of the states, Kerala was one of the worst performers, using only 8.75% of the allocated funds. The worst performers is Punjab, using just 0.45% of the funds.

Statement 2 is correct:The Poshan Abhiyan is a nutritional security scheme launched in 2017 by the centre. 50% of the funding is sourced from the World Bank and other development banks. The rest of the budgetary support is shared between the centre and states in ratio of 60:40. In case of the north- eastern states, central contribution is 90%.

D [ 1, 2 & 3]

Notes:All are correct statements.

D [ 1, 2, 3 & 4 ]

Notes:

Coffee production in India is mainly confined to hilly tracts of south India. Karnataka accounts for the highest coffee production with 71% followed by Kerala 21%, Tamil Nadu 5% and then followed by Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.