Daily Current Affairs MCQ- November 19, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

• Adultery is defined as a voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with a partner other than his/her spouse.
• Under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), adultery was a criminal offence in India.
• IPC Section 497 says it is a punishable offense for a man to have sexual intercourse with a married woman without the consent of her husband.
  • The man committing such an offense can be imprisoned for five years or more and can also be asked to pay a fine.
• One big concern regarding this provision was that it does not appear to be gender-neutral. In case of any act of adultery committed, the law calls for punishing the man but not the woman involved.
• Also, Section 497 does not enable a woman to file a complaint against her husband when he has had sexual intercourse with another woman.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court declared that single women with pregnancies between 20 and 24 weeks are entitled to access the same safe and legal abortion care as married women.

• The judgment came in an appeal by a person who wanted to terminate her pregnancy before her term completed 24 weeks.
• The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 prohibits unmarried women who are between 20 and 24 weeks’ pregnant to abort with the help of registered doctors.
• The Supreme Court held that the rights of reproductive autonomy, dignity and privacy give an unmarried woman the right of choice as to whether or not to bear a child on a similar footing as that of a married woman.

Hence both statements are correct.

Registered medical doctors are exempt from disclosing to the police the identity of minors who have come in for abortion, the Supreme Court directed in a judgment.

• A registered medical practitioner (RMP) is obliged under Section 19(1) of the POCSO Act to report to the police when a minor approaches him or her for an abortion.
• In many cases minors and their guardians opt to go to an unqualified doctor for abortion rather than risk being involved in criminal proceedings following a report under Section 19(1) of the POCSO Act.
• If there is an insistence on the disclosure of the name of the minor in the report under Section 19(1) of POCSO, minors may be less likely to seek out RMPs for safe termination of their pregnancies under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act.
• The court said it was necessary to harmonise the provisions of the MTP and POCSO laws to enable minors to approach an RMP for abortion without the fear of getting exposed.
• It would also protect the statutory obligation of the RMP to report the offence under the POCSO Act and the rights of privacy and reproductive autonomy of the minor under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Hence both statements are correct.

The United States announced $810 million in new funding for Pacific islands at a summit with President Joe Biden amid inroads by China in the strategic but sparsely populated region.

• The White House said $600 million will be in the form of a 10-year package to clean up and develop dirty waters to support the tuna industry, while the United States will also expand climate and development aid and its diplomatic presence.
• Mr. Biden will also address the first-ever Washington summit of Pacific Island nations, including 12 heads of state or government, in hopes of using a personal touch to reconnect with a region that has been tied closely to the United States since the Second World War.
• With the U.S. until now often seen as taking the region for granted, China has asserted itself strongly in recent years through investment, police training and, most controversially, a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
• The Biden administration also announced that the United States would recognise Cook Islands and Niue, a self-governing territory whose foreign and defence policies and currency are linked to New Zealand. The step will allow the United States to increase its diplomatic footprint in the Cook Island and Niue, which have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.

Hence both statements are correct.

Coal major Coal India Limited (CIL) is all set to introduce conveyor belts in its open cast coal projects to reduce environmental pollution and avert road accidents during the transport of coal from its washeries to railway sidings.

• CIL chairman reviewed the preparations for commissioning conveyor belts across several projects of its Ranchi-based subsidiary, Central Coalfields Limited (CCL).
• The CIL has introduced a concept, called ‘first-mile connectivity’, under which the traditional way of transporting coal from the silos and washeries to railway sidings will be replaced by large conveyor belts.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the new Vande Bharat trainset and will travel in it for about half an hour from Gandhinagar to Kalupur in Gujarat.

• PM Modi had also inaugurated the Vande Bharat when it was first launched in Delhi in 2019. Then, however, he had not taken a ride on it.
• The name may be the same, but this train, the third in the Vande Bharat series, is being dubbed ‘Vande Bharat 2.0’, because of certain upgrades it has received over its predecessors, the two existing trains running from Delhi to Varanasi and Katra.
• For starters, this train reaches a top speed of 160 km per hour in 129 seconds, around 16 seconds faster than its predecessor. This is because this train weighs around 392 tonnes, 38 tonnes lighter than the last one, and needs to run almost a km less to attain its top speed.
• It also has a better riding index (lower the better) of 3.26 at 180 km per hour, from the earlier 3.87. At a standard speed of 115 km per, its riding index is 3.26, better than 3.62 attained at the same speed by the earlier version.
• Riding index is a global benchmark for rolling stock calculated during trials by measuring vertical/lateral acceleration. In layman’s terms, how comfortable and steady the passenger is while the train is in motion is roughly the idea behind a riding index.

Hence both statements are correct.

India has achieved another milestone in its digital health journey as Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) crossed the landmark of one crore digitally linked health records with over 27 lakh records linked in a single day.

• Meanwhile, Mansukh Mandaviya will inaugurate "Arogya Manthan 2022" to celebrate four years of the implementation of Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and one year of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) on September 25.
• The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. It will bridge the existing gap amongst different stakeholders of the Healthcare ecosystem through digital highways.
• On February 26, 2022, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the national rollout of the Central Sector Scheme, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with a budget of Rs 1,600 crores for five years.
• The National Health Authority (NHA) will be the implementing agency of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The forthcoming DefExpo 2022, scheduled to be held in Gandhinagar from October 18 to 22, will host the second edition of the India-Africa Defence Dialogue with invites extended to 53 African countries.

• A separate Indian Ocean Region plus (IOR+) conclave with participation of approximately 40 countries is also on the anvil, the Defence Ministry said.
• The Expo, earlier scheduled to be held in March, was postponed due to “logistical challenges” the Ministry had said.
• For DefExpo 2022, Indian companies, Indian subsidiaries of foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers, Division of company registered in India, exhibitor having joint venture with an Indian company will be considered as Indian participants.
• The theme of DefExpo 2022 is ‘Path to Pride’ and the aim is to showcase the might of the domestic defence industry, which is now powering ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ resolve of the Government and the nation at large.

Hence both statements are correct.

Researchers have given new insights on the ‘coffee-ring effect’.

• For about two decades now, the ‘coffee ring effect’ has been known as when a drop of spilt coffee dries up, the outermost edge of the dried drop is a little darker than the centre, forming a darker ‘ring’.
• This is caused by the outward drift of suspended coffee particles from the centre, causing a denser, darkened rim.
• Now, researchers from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, have shown that after reaching the rim, as the drop dries, some of the particles undergo an inward drift too.
• This research has applications in agriculture, forensic science and even disease diagnosis. The present work has been published in the journal, Soft Matter.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy launches Virtual Conference 'SymphoNE' to boost Tourism Sector in North East India.

• SymphoNE is the start of a series of dialogues on North Eastern Region's Development Conference comprised of a broad range of Policy Thinkers, Stakeholders & Influencers with the aim to boost Tourism Sector in North Eastern Region.
• The Virtual Conference 'SymphoNE' being organized on 24th & 27th September 2022 by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region on the occasion of World Tourism Day.
• This two day conference will aim to create a roadmap to showcase the unexplored beauty of North East India & boost the tourism Sector in North Eastern Region.
• SymphoNE aims to develop one-stop solution to eliminate all obstacles that are being faced by the tourists, and the tour operators while carrying out the operations for the visitors.

Hence both statements are correct.