Daily Current Affairs MCQ- August 13, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Assam has become the last and the 36th state to implement the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) scheme.

With this, the scheme now covers all the states and UTs, making distribution of subsidised and free foodgrain security portable throughout the country.

One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC)

• It is aimed at enabling migrant workers and their family members to buy subsidised ration from any fair price shop anywhere in the country.
• All eligible ration cardholders or beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 can access their entitlements from anywhere in India.
• The facility was started as inter-State portability of ration cards in 4 States w.e.f. August 2019.
• These four states were Andhra Pradesh-Telangana and Gujarat-Maharashtra.
• Department of Food and Public Distribution is the nodal agency responsible for implementation of this scheme.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Adani group said it had tied up with French energy major TotalEnergies SE to jointly create the ‘world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem’ in Gujarat’s Kutch region.

• As part of the tie-up, TotalEnergies would acquire a 25% stake in Adani New Industries Ltd. (ANIL), a unit of Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL).
• The joint venture aims to invest $50 billion over the next 10 years to set up the green hydrogen ecosystem. In the primary phase, ANIL will develop green hydrogen production capacity of 1 million tons per annum at Mundra before 2030.
• Green hydrogen gas is produced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using an electrolyzer that may be powered by electricity generated from renewable energy sources.

Hence both statements are correct.

The 2022 Reuters Institute Digital News Report was released recently.

• This study, an annual one commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, tracks how news is consumed in different countries.
• This year’s report, the eleventh overall, is based on a survey conducted by YouGuv, a British market research and data analytics firm.

What are the major trends highlighted in the report?

• It flags six major trends which could have wider socio-political implications.
• Firstly, people are trusting news content less and less. The average level of trust in news, at 42%, was found to be lower than the previous year.
• Second, consumption of traditional news media declined in nearly all the countries surveyed.
• Third, the proportion of news consumers who say that they “avoid news” has risen sharply across countries, with the report describing the phenomenon as “selective avoidance”.
• Fourth, despite small increases in the proportion of people willing to pay for online news (mostly in richer countries), the growth in digital subscriptions for news content seems to be leveling off.
• Next, “the smartphone has become the dominant way in which most people first access news in the morning”.
• Finally, news consumption is increasingly happening via social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok rather than traditional media.

What does the report say about trends in India?

• India is a strongly mobile-focussed market. 72% of the survey respondents accessed news through smartphones and 35% did so via computers.
• Also, 84% of the Indian respondents sourced news online, 63% from social media, 59% from television, and 49% from print. YouTube (53%) and WhatsApp (51%) were the top social media platforms for sourcing news.
• India registered a small increase in the level of trust, with 41% trusting news overall.
• While legacy print brands and public broadcasters continued to have high trust levels , only a minority — 36% and 35% — felt that the media was free from undue political influence and from undue business influence respectively.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) launched the findings of SIPRI Yearbook 2022.

• A key finding is that despite a marginal decrease in the number of nuclear warheads in 2021, nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade.
• Russia and the USA together possess over 90 per cent of all nuclear weapons.
• India had 160 nuclear warheads as on January 2022 and it appears to be expanding its nuclear arsenal. While India’s nuclear stockpile increased from 156 in January 2021 to 160 in January 2022, Pakistan’s nuclear stockpile has remained at 165.
• China is in the middle of a substantial expansion of its nuclear weapon arsenal, which satellite images indicate includes the construction of over 300 new missile silos. China had 350 nuclear warheads in January 2021 and 2022.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry has invited public feedback on the new draft national policy on persons with disabilities (PwD), which proposes interventions in disability prevention, education, healthcare, social security and accessibility.

• The draft said the current national programme on prevention of disabilities run by the Health Ministry focused on “traditional causes”, but there were other causes of disability, such as malnourishment, medical negligence, socio-cultural factors and impairment caused by disasters.
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPD) Act, 2016, also expanded the number of disabilities from seven to 21.
• The policy said the States and Union Territories should add a provision on compliance with the RPD Act when granting permission or recognition to educational institutions. A module on disability should be included in MBBS and other medical courses.
• To make vehicles more accessible, the policy said: “The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will issue necessary guidelines for making modification in the personal vehicles being used by persons with disabilities as per requirement.”

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A report that defines the extended jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) and its new logistical requirements in frontier States has been prepared and is soon expected to be submitted to the Union Home Ministry, officials said.

• While in Punjab, West Bengal and Assam, the BSF jurisdiction, from the border towards the hinterland, was enhanced from the earlier 15 km to 50 km, in Gujarat the same limit has been reduced from 80 km to 50 km, while in Rajasthan the limit has been kept unchanged at 50 km.
• The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965. It comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

A team of researchers from the University of Delhi has discovered a unique set of fossilised dinosaur eggs, with one egg nesting within the other.

• While eggs-within-eggs are a rare phenomenon, they are so far known to occur only in birds and never known in reptiles. Until this discovery, no egg-in-egg fossil egg was found in dinosaurs and other reptiles such as turtles, lizards and crocodiles.
• The findings talk about the “egg-in-egg” phenomenon in a titanosaurid dinosaur egg found at Bagh in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district . The new discovery of an ovum-in-ovo egg, brings out newer connections between reptilian and avian evolution.
• Dinosaurs of the Sauropod family were among the largest land animals that ever lived and widespread millions of years ago in the territory that is now India. Fossils of these animals have been found in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya.
• The Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Central India is long known for its dinosaur fossils (both skeletal and egg remains).

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Government of India has tightened norms for endorsers, including celebrities and sportspersons, as they are now required to make material connection disclosures and undertake due diligence while doing advertisements.

• According to new guidelines released by the Consumer Affairs Ministry, endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, belief or experience of the endorsers.
• The endorsers have to make material connection disclosures and failing to do so will attract penalty under the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).
• Material disclosures mean any relationship that materially affects the weight or credibility of any endorsement which a reasonable consumer would not expect.
• Violation of these guidelines will attract a penalty of ₹10 lakh for the first offence and ₹50 lakh for the subsequent offence, under the CPA.
• The new guidelines “Prevention of misleading advertisements and necessary due diligence for endorsement of advertisements”, which came into effect in June 2022, have been issued to prevent misleading advertisements.
• Hence both statements are correct.

European Union leaders granted Ukraine & Moldova the coveted status of official candidate to join their 27-nation club.

• EU is a unique economic and political union between 27 EU countries that together cover much of the continent.
• The predecessor of the EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War.
• The first steps were to foster economic cooperation by creating the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1958.
• Initially economic cooperation was ensured between six countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
• Later, 22 other members joined and a huge single market (also known as the 'internal' market) has been created.
• On 31 January 2020 the United Kingdom left the European Union.
• What began as a purely economic union has evolved into an organization spanning policy areas, from climate, environment and health to external relations and security, justice and migration.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has decided to reserve 10 per cent vacancies for recruitment in Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles for Agniveers.

• Agniveers will also get ten per cent reservation in Defence Ministry's job vacancies.
• Reservations for agniveers meeting requisite eligibility criteria will be implemented in the Indian Coast Guard and defence civilian posts, and all the 16 Defence Public Sector Undertakings. This reservation would be in addition to existing reservations for ex-servicemen.
• The Ministry has also decided to give three years age relaxation beyond the prescribed upper age limit to Agniveers for recruitment in Central Armed Police Force and Assam Rifles.
• For the first batch of Agniveer, the age relaxation will be for five years beyond the prescribed upper age limit.

Hence both statements are correct.