Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 28, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, the Supreme Court in its judgement told the States of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand that they are “bound” to stop hate crimes and follow the preventive and punitive measures against hate crimes laid down by the Supreme Court in its judgements.

• Article 19(2) of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression to all citizens of India is subjected to certain restrictions, namely, sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
• Provisions in clauses (2) to (6) of Article 19 authorizes the State to restrict the exercise of the freedom guaranteed under the article.
• Legal Provisions of Hate Speech:
  • Hate speech has not been defined in any law in India.
  • However, legal provisions in certain legislations prohibit select forms of speech as an exception to freedom of speech.
• Indian Penal Code (IPC) Provisions:
  • Under Section 153A of IPC, ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’, is an offence punishable with three years’ imprisonment.
• Sections 505(1) and 505(2): Make the publication and circulation of content which may cause ill-will or hatred between different groups an offence.
• Representation of the People Act, 1951:
  • Section 8 disqualifies a person from contesting election if he is convicted for indulging in acts amounting to illegitimate use of freedom of speech and expression.
• Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955:
  • Section 7 penalizes incitement to, and encouragement of untouchability through words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise.
• Religious Institutions (Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988:
  • Section 3(g) prohibits religious institution or its manager to allow the use of any premises belonging to, or under the control of, the institution for promoting or attempting to promote disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred, ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

China led global coal power expansion in 2021, with about 25,000 MW of new plants, followed by India with about 6,100 MW, reported the Global Energy Monitor which conducts an annual survey of coal power capacity under development or deployment.

• Worldwide, however, coal-plant capacity under development declined 13% last year.
• After rising in 2020 for the first time since 2015, total coal power capacity under development slid last year to a record low of 457 gigawatts (GW), from 525 gigawatts.
• China, South Korea, and Japan have pledged to stop funding new coal plants in other countries, but China continued to lead globally in domestic development of new coal plants, commissioning more coal capacity than the rest of the world combined.
• Earlier this month the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said there was no carbon budget left for new coal plants, and added that coal use needed to fall by 75% by 2030 (from 2019 levels) to limit global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius, in line with the Paris Agreement.

Hence both statements are correct.

Government of India will conduct ‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ under ‘Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Campaign’ during the period from 25th April to 1st May 2022 as a Jan Bhagidari movement under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

• Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar will chair the National level special programme on ‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ on 27th April 2022.
• He will connect with farmers in all the Implementing States across the country through specially organized ‘Fasal Bima Pathshala’ coordinated by CSC from 1 lakh locations across the country.
• The Campaign aims to make the farmers aware about key scheme aspects of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) like basic scheme provisions, importance of insuring the crops and how to avail scheme benefits etc. in the ongoing Kharif Season 2022 along with facilitating farmers in getting benefit of the PMFBY scheme.
• Under this campaign, the broader focus will be on importance of PMFBY/RWBCIS (Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme) and how farmers can enrol under the scheme and avail the benefit of the scheme.

Hence both statements are correct.

A widely available drug, used for treatment of asthma and allergies, can also block a protein that is key to replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, a study by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) researchers has found.

• The drug, montelukast, is an oral treatment given to prevent wheezing, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and coughing caused by asthma, and also used to prevent breathing difficulties during exercise.
• Montelukast is prescribed in India by physicians. It is readily available as tablets and syrup (for kids) in pharmacy shops under different brand names.
• In fact, some clinicians were using montelukast to treat Covid-19 patients because of its known role in making breathing easier in asthma patients.
• However, it was not known that this drug also has antiviral activity, which was figured out in this study.

Hence both statements are correct.

73^rd Constitutional Amendment

• The 73^rd Constitutional Amendment added Part IX titled “The Panchayats” to the Constitution. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Basic unit of democratic system-Gram Sabhas (villages) comprising all the adult members registered as voters. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/Mandal and district levels except in States with population is below 20 lakhs (Article 243B).
• Seats at all levels to be filled by direct elections (Article 243C (2)).
• Three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/Mandal and district levels except in States with population is below 20 lakhs (Article 243B).
• Seats at all levels to be filled by direct elections Article 243C (2).
• Seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and the chairpersons of the Panchayats at all levels also shall be reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their population.
• One-third of the total number of seats to be reserved for women.
• One third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs are also reserved for women.

• Blue Straggler Star are hot, blue, massive stars and seem to have a different trajectory of evolution from the norm. There are a few stars that, when they are expected to start expanding in size and cooling down, do just the opposite.
• They grow brighter and hotter as indicated by their blue color. Thus, standing out from the cooler red stars in their vicinity in the color-magnitude diagram. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Since they lag their peers in evolution, they are called stragglers, more specifically, blue stragglers, because of their hot, blue color.
• Allan Sandage (an astronomer with Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California) discovered blue stragglers in the globular cluster M3 in 1952-53. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Seafloor Spreading

• Seafloor spreading is the process of magma welling up in the rift as the old crust pulls itself in opposite directions.
• Cold seawater cools the magma, creating a new crust. The upward movement and eventual cooling of this magma has created high ridges on the ocean floor over millions of years. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries. As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The East Pacific Rise is a site of major seafloor spreading in the Ring of Fire.
  • It is located on the divergent boundary of the Pacific Plate, the Cocos Plate (west of Central America), the Nazca Plate (west of South America), the North American Plate and the Antarctic Plate.

• The anti-defection law punishes individual Members of Parliament (MPs)/MLAs for leaving one party for another. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Parliament added it to the Constitution as the Tenth Schedule in 1985. Its purpose was to bring stability to governments by discouraging legislators from changing parties.
  • The Tenth Schedule - popularly known as the Anti-Defection Act - was included in the Constitution via the 52^nd Amendment Act, 1985.
  • It sets the provisions for disqualification of elected members on the grounds of defection to another political party.
  • It was a response to the toppling of multiple state governments by party-hopping MLAs after the general elections of 1967.
• However, it allows a group of MP/MLAs to join (i.e., merge with) another political party without inviting the penalty for defection. And it does not penalize political parties for encouraging or accepting defecting legislators. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • As per the 1985 Act, a 'defection' by one-third of the elected members of a political party was considered a 'merger'.
  • But the 91^st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, changed this and now at least two-thirds of the members of a party must be in Favour of a "merger" for it to have validity in the eyes of the law.
• The members disqualified under the law can stand for elections from any political party for a seat in the same House.
• The decision on questions as to disqualification on ground of defection are referred to the Chairman or the Speaker of such House, which is subject to ‘Judicial review’.
  • However, the law does not provide a timeframe within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case.

University Grants Commission

• It came into existence on 28^th December 1953.
• It became a statutory body by an Act of Parliament in 1956. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It is established for the coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The head office of the UGC is located in New Delhi.

Anganwadi Scheme

• Anganwadi is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by the States / UTs which serves as a rural child and maternal care centre in India.
• It was started by the Government of India in 1975 as part of the ICDS program to combat child hunger and malnutrition. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Anganwadi centres provide a package of six services: supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, immunisation, health check-up, nutrition and health education, and referral services.
• The beneficiaries under the Anganwadi Services Scheme are identified based on Aadhaar. Hence statement 2 is correct.