Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 7, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

• The Competition Commission of India has the power to inquire into a certain agreement as well as the dominant position of enterprises.
• It has the power to inquire into any acquisition or combination if it determines that such acquisition or combination may adversely affect competition in the Indian market.
• It has the power to regulate its own procedures.
• It has the power to impose monetary penalties upon violation of the Competition Act, 2002.
• It has the power to pass an interim order for any act where there has been anti-competition agreements or abuse of position by dominant parties which adversely affects the competition in the market.

Defence Ministry has said that System for Pensions Administration - Raksha or SPARSH has disbursed more than three thousand ninety crore rupees to Defense Pensioners digitally in the month of August this year.

• In another milestone, more than five lakh sixty-two thousand Defence Pensioners migrated successfully on the digital platform of SPARSH in August.
• SPARSH is a web-based system processing pension claims and crediting the pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without any external intermediary.
• It has grown exponentially with more than 11 thousand 600 crore rupees disbursed in 2021-22, from just about 57 crore rupees in 2020-21.

The Centre has decided to grant a 60-day special maternity leave for women Central government employees in case of stillbirth or death of an infant within a few days of birth, an order by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

• The DOPT said it had received several queries seeking clarification on grant of leave in case of death of a child soon after birth.
• Keeping in view the potential emotional trauma caused due to stillbirth or death of a child soon after birth, which has a far-reaching impact on the mother’s life, it has now been decided to grant a special maternity leave of 60 days to a female Central government servant.
• The condition for death of a child soon after birth may be defined as up to 28 days after birth. A baby born with no signs of life at or after 28 weeks of gestation may be defined as stillbirth.
• The special maternity leave shall be given only to a woman Central government servant with less than two surviving children.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

While hearing a petition seeking directions to High Courts to adopt a “Uniform Judicial Code”, the Supreme Court (SC), commented on long pleadings filed before courts and wondered whether there could be an agreement on a “page limit for SLPs” (special leave petitions).

• There are currently no laid-down limits on the length of pleadings, but there are specifications regarding the paper, its size, and the typing, etc.
• Under Order VIII (Documents) of The Supreme Court Rules, 2013, “the officers of the Court shall not receive any pleading, petition, affidavit or other document, except original exhibits and certified copies of public documents, unless it is fairly and legibly written.
• These have to be certified by the Advocate-On-Record, who is registered to practise before the SC. Other lawyers, including a senior advocate, can appear before the court only on the instructions from the AoR.

Hence both statements are correct.

The commissioning of India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1) into the Navy as INS Vikrant marks a defining moment.

• The first ever aircraft carrier to be indigenously designed and constructed, INS Vikrant will strengthen the country’s standing as a ‘Blue Water Navy’ — a maritime force with global reach and capability to operate over deep seas.
• With it, India also joins the elite group of nations – the US, Russia, France, the UK and China – who are capable of designing and constructing aircraft carriers. Also, with a displacement of 43,000 tonnes when fully loaded, INS Vikrant is set to be the seventh largest among the carriers or carrier classes in the world.
• INS Vikrant, with pennant number R11, was the first-ever aircraft carrier that was operated by the Indian Navy. The ship was officially laid down in 1943
• The plan for building an indigenous aircraft carrier started taking shape as the old INS Vikrant neared its decommissioning in the late 1990s.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Projection and Trends of School Enrolments by 2025:

• It is a crucial exercise commissioned by the NCERT’s Educational Survey Division for the country to understand how school education is progressing.
• It studies the projection of enrollment of students (in the age group of 6 - 16 years) in schools for states and Union territories (covers 20 states and UTs) and for marginalised groups.
• The NCERT report had studied trends since 1950, when the country had 2,171 schools with 2.38 crore students.
• It referred to data from Education Statistics published by the Ministry of Education, All India School Education Survey conducted by the council itself and Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data collected by the Education Ministry.
• It will be of great use to policy planners, policy makers and researchers in the country, as such projections form the basis for investment decisions such as opening of new schools or upgrading existing one, employment and deployment of teachers, etc.

Hence both statements are correct.

Chief Justice of India, U.U. Lalit, in its order on activist Teesta Setalvad on September 2, made an oral observation that under Section 437 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a woman is entitled to favourable treatment.

• He was referring to a provision that says being a woman is a possible ground for granting bail, even when otherwise it cannot be considered.
• Section 437 of the CrPC deals with bail in case of non-bailable offences.
• It says a person shall not be released on bail if there is reasonable ground to believe that he has committed an offence punishable with death or life imprisonment; or, if he has been previously been convicted for an offence punishable with death, life imprisonment, or for a term of seven years or more; or been convicted on two or more occasions on other offences with a term between three and seven years.
• However, it also contains exceptions in a proviso that says the court may grant bail even in these cases, “if such person is under the age of 16 or is a woman or is sick or infirm”.
• There are several provisions in criminal law that give special consideration to women.
• For instance, when a police officer requires the attendance of any person who he believes is acquainted with a case under investigation, the person has to appear before the officer (Section 160).
• However, no woman shall be required to do so at any place other than the place in which she resides.

Hence both statements are correct.

Nano urea, a product developed by the Indian Farmers and Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) and heavily advertised by the Central government as a panacea to reduce farmer dependence on packaged urea, is yet to be fully tested despite having been fast-tracked for commercial application.

• Normally, three seasons of independent assessment by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is required for approving a new fertilizer, but in the case of nano urea this was reduced to two.
• Nano urea is a patented and indigenously made liquid that contains nanoparticles of urea, the most crucial chemical fertilizer for farmers in India. A single half-litre bottle of the liquid can compensate for a 45 kg sack of urea that farmers traditionally rely on, it is claimed.

Hence both statements are correct.

Senior Judge of Supreme Court of India Justice DY Chandrachud has been nominated as the Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA).

• Justice DY Chandrachud was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 13th May 2016. Earlier, he served as Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
• National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) was formed in 1995 under the authority of the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987.
• Its purpose is to provide free legal services to eligible candidates (defined in Sec. 12 of the Act), and to organize Lok Adalats for speedy resolution of cases.
• The Chief Justice of India is patron-in-chief of NALSA while the second senior-most Judge of the Supreme Court of India is the Executive-Chairman.
• There is a provision for similar mechanism at state and district level also headed by Chief Justice of High Courts and Chief Judges of District courts respectively.
• It was formed in 1995.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A 65-year-old farmer, Balwinder Singh, died by suicide outside the office of the Muktsar DC on August 29. He had been sitting on a dharna outside the administrative complex against kurki orders for his land based on a court case filed against him by the local moneylender for defaulting on loan payment.

• Kurki means attachment of a farmer’s land, already pledged to the money lending institution or individual, in case of a loan default. Apart from banks, private moneylenders, commission agents also get these decrees against farmers from time to time.
• Kurki orders are executed under Section 60 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908. The land which is pledged by the farmer to the bank or money lender gets registered in their name. In some cases, the land is auctioned as well.
• The process begins after the money lender moves court to get kurki orders in case the farmer is unable to pay back his loan. In kurki, attachment of farmer’s land as well as his tractor can be done as per the Section 60.

Hence both statements are correct.