Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 10, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Supreme Court upheld amendments introducing restrictions in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) while holding that no one has a fundamental or absolute right to receive foreign contributions.

• In a judgment that may hit non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working at the grass-root level with no direct link to foreign donors, the court reasoned that unbridled inflow of foreign funds may destabilise the sovereignty of the nation.
• The restrictions involve a bar on using operational FCRA accounts to get foreign contributions and mandatory production of the Aadhaar card for registration under the FCRA.
• They require NGOs and recipients to open a new FCRA account at a specified branch of the State Bank of India in New Delhi as a “one-point entry” for foreign donations.
• Free and uncontrolled inflow of foreign funds has the potential to impact the socio-economic structure and polity of the country.
• The court said charity could be found at home. NGOs could look within the country for donors.
• Unregulated inflow of foreign donations would only indicate that the government was incapable of looking after its own affairs and needs of its citizens.
• The amendments do not prohibit inflow of foreign contributions, but are a regulatory measure to permit acceptance by registered persons or persons having prior permission to do so with condition that they must themselves utilise the entire contribution.
• However, the court read down one of the provisions — Section 12 (A) — of the 2020 Amendment Act, which mandated the production of Aadhaar card for registration.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has accorded its approval for supply of fortified rice throughout the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under various schemes by 2024 in a phased manner.

• These schemes of Government of India are the National Food Security Act (NFSA), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman-PM POSHAN [erstwhile Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDM)] and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) of Government of India.
• The entire cost of rice fortification (around Rs. 2,700 crore per annum) would be borne by the Govt. of India as part of food subsidy till its full implementation upto June, 2024.

The following three phases are envisaged for full implementation of the initiative:

• Phase-I: Covering ICDS and PM POSHAN in India all over by March, 2022 which is under implementation.
• Phase-II: Phase I above plus TPDS and OWS in all Aspirational and High Burden Districts on stunting (total 291 districts) by March 2023.
• Phase-Ill: Phase II above plus covering the remaining districts of the country by March 2024.

Background

• Prime Minister of India in his address on the 75th Independence Day (15th August, 2021) made an announcement on Fortification of Rice so as to provide nutrition to every poor person.
• Earlier, the Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on "Fortification of Rice and its Distribution under Public Distribution System" was implemented for a period of 3 years beginning from 2019-20.

Hence both statements are correct.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on April 08, 2022.

• The test successfully demonstrated the reliable functioning of all critical components involved in the complex missile system and met all the mission objectives.
• The SFDR-based propulsion enables the missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds.
• The SFDR has been developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad in collaboration with other DRDO laboratories such as Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

From the Himalayan highlands of Leh-Ladakh to the banks of River Ganges in Varanasi – the heritage handicraft of Pashmina has got a brand new identity.

• The premium Pashmina products prepared by the highly skilled Khadi weavers of Varanasi was launched by Chairman KVIC, Shri Vinai Kumar Saxena in Varanasi.
• This is for the first time that Pashmina products are being produced outside the region of Leh-Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
• Pashmina is famed as an essential Kashmiri art form but rediscovery of Pashmina in Varanasi, the spiritual and cultural Capital of India, is unique in many ways.
• The production of Pashmina prepared in Varanasi liberates this heritage art from the regional confines and creates a fusion of diverse artistry from Leh-Ladakh, Delhi and Varanasi.

Hence both statements are correct.

After banning the import of plastic waste in 2019, the Environment Ministry has permitted containers made of polyethylene terephthalate, as plastic waste, to be imported for processing.

• The decision to roll back the ban was taken last year after representations by several industries in the business of processing waste said there was too little waste available for them in India and this was causing them financial losses.
• An expert committee of the Environment Ministry, last December, recommended that firms which had applied for permission could import polyethylene terephthalate flakes and bottles up to 50% of their production capacity.
• Polyethylene terephthalate is a category of plastic, and nearly 90% of the domestic supply of containers using them is already recycled.
• However, this reprieve has not gone down well with environmentalist groups.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Rajya Sabha approved the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to remove the Bhogta caste from the list of Scheduled Castes (SCs).

• The Bhogta caste will be included instead as a Scheduled Tribe in the State.
• The Bill also amends the schedule to the Scheduled Tribes order to include the Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri), Tamaria (Tamadia) and Puran communities on the ST list.

Hence both statements are correct.

With space junk posing increasing threat to Indian assets in space, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is building up its orbital debris tracking capability by deploying new radars and optical telescopes under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project.

• A space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under NETRA.
• The government has given the go-ahead for the deployment of the radar, which will be capable of detecting and tracking objects 10 cm and above in size, he said. It will be indigenously designed and built.
• Radars and optical telescopes are vital ground-based facilities for keeping an eye on space objects, including orbital junk.
• Space junk or debris consists of spent rocket stages, dead satellites, fragments of space objects and debris resulting from ASAT.
• Hurtling at an average speed of 27,000 kmph in LEO, these objects pose a very real threat as collisions involving even centimetre-sized fragments can be lethal to satellites.
• For protecting its space assets, ISRO was forced to perform 19 collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAM) in 2021, of which 14 were in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and five in the geostationary orbit. The number of CAMs jumped from just three in 2015 to 12 in 2020 and 19 in 2021.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed by Lok Sabha.

• The Bill seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 passed by Parliament.
• The Act was amended in 2011 by Delhi Legislative Assembly to trifurcate the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi into: (i) North Delhi Municipal Corporation, (ii) South Delhi Municipal Corporation, and (iii) East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
• The Bill seeks to unify the three corporations. The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
• The Act as amended in 2011 empowers the Delhi government to decide various matters under the Act such as total number of seats of councillors, delimitation of wards etc. The Bill instead empowers the central government to decide these matters.
• The Act provides that the number of seats in the three corporations taken together should not be more than 272. The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.
• The Act provides for a Director of Local Bodies to assist the Delhi government and discharge certain functions. The Bill omits the provision for a Director of Local Bodies.
• The Bill provides that the central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

On March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that European countries must pay for all natural gas imports in rubles instead of the US dollar or the euro. The European Union imports 40 per cent of its natural gas requirements.

• The Russian ruble or rouble is the official currency of the Russian Federation. The ruble is subdivided into 100 kopeks.
• Russia would not accept natural gas payments in currencies that have “compromised”. This list of currencies included dollars and euros.
• The move to accept payments only in rubles has been done to increase the demand for rubles in the international market.
• The ruble had been weakening against the dollar in the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari travelled to the Parliament House in a hydrogen-based Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), in what could be interpreted as a strong indication of a shift in stance by the Centre that has so far backed conventional battery-powered electric vehicles, or BEVs.

• Typically, there are four broad categorisations of electric vehicles—conventional hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), BEVs and FCEVs.
• FCEVs such as Toyota’s Mirai, Honda’s Clarity and Hyundai’s Nexo use hydrogen gas to power an on-board electric motor.
• FCEVs combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, which runs the motor. Since they’re powered entirely by electricity, FCEVs are considered EVs, but unlike BEVs, their range and refuelling processes are comparable to conventional cars and trucks.
• The major difference between a BEV and a hydrogen FCEV is that the latter enables a refuelling time of just five minutes, compared to 30-45 minutes charging for a BEV.
• Also, consumers get about five times better energy storage per unit volume and weight, which frees up a lot of space for other things, while allowing the rider to go farther.

Hence both statements are correct.