Daily Current Affairs MCQ - August 28, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar addressed the 11th meeting of BRICS Agriculture Ministers under the theme BRICS Partnership for Strengthening Agro Biodiversity for Food Security and Nutrition. The Action Plan of 2021-24 for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries was adopted in the Ministers' meeting.

The Action Plan focuses on the themes of food security, welfare of farmers, conservation of agrobiodiversity, resilience of food and agricultural production systems, promotion of digital agricultural solutions etc. which are integral to the sustainable development of agriculture.

It has been proposed to include “Conservation and promotion of agrobiodiversity for nutrition and sustainability” as a focus area for collaboration in the Action Plan 2021-2024 for Agricultural Cooperation of BRICS Countries. Hence option(c) is correct.

The Union Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt. Smriti Irani addressed the First ever G20 Ministerial Conference on Women’s Empowerment which was held at Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy in a hybrid format. G20 Conference on Women Empowerment acknowledged the common objectives and shared responsibilities to advance the goals of equality and development of women and girls in all spheres including STEM, Financial and Digital Literacy, Environment and Sustainability. The members of the G20 are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Hence option(c) is correct.

At the 7th meeting of the BRICS Environment Ministerial 2021, India stressed on the need for taking concrete collective global actions against global environment and climate challenge, guided by equity, national priorities and circumstances, and the principles of “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC)”. In the Meeting, the Environment Ministers adopted the New Delhi Statement on Environment, which is also aimed at furthering the spirit of Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus in Environment among the BRICS Nations. The key areas proposed in the BRICS Environment Ministers’ Statement, 2021 are guided by the issues, which may have primacy in UN Biodiversity COP 15 and UNFCCC COP 26.

Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar announced the operationalization of BRICS Agricultural Research Platform prepared and set up in India for strengthening the cooperation in the field of agricultural research & innovations amongst the BRICS member States.

The BRICS- Agricultural Research Platform, as a global platform for science-led agriculture will help in addressing the issues of world hunger, undernutrition, poverty and inequality by promoting sustainable agricultural development through strategic cooperation in agriculture and allied sector. Hence option(d) is correct.

Minister for Labour and Employment formally launched e-Shram portal, a database of unorganised sector workers, and handed it over to the States/UTs. The workers will be issued an e-Shram card containing a 12 digit unique number, which, going ahead, will help in including them in social security schemes, officials said. Portal will help build a comprehensive National Database of Unorganized Workers (NDUW) in the country. The government had earlier missed deadlines for creating the database, inviting criticism from the Supreme Court. The registration of workers on the portal will be coordinated by the Labour Ministry, state governments, trade unions and CSCs, officials said. A national toll free number — 14434 — will also be launched to assist and address the queries of workers seeking registration on the portal. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Turkey is bordered on its northwest by Greece and Bulgaria; north by the Black Sea; northeast by Georgia; east by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran; southeast by Iraq; south by Syria and the Mediterranean Sea; and west by the Aegean Sea.

In macroeconomics and finance, a transfer payment is a redistribution of income and wealth by means of the government making a payment, without goods or services being received in return. These payments are considered to be non-exhaustive because they do not directly absorb resources or create output. Examples of transfer payments include welfare, financial aid, social security, and government subsidies for certain businesses.

Jharkhand has the highest population of Adivasi people from 32 different tribes, including the nine Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).

According to Census 2001, Santhal (34 per cent), Oraon (19.6 per cent), Munda (14.8 per cent) and Ho (10.5 per cent) are among the major tribes in terms of numbers.

In order to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways vide notification dated 26 Aug 2021, has introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles i.e. “Bharat series (BH-series)”.

A vehicle bearing this registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.

Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark -

• YY BH #### XX
• YY – Year of first registration
• BH- Code for Bharat Series
• ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
• XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)

This vehicle registration facility under “Bharat series (BH-series)” will be available on voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State Public Sector Undertakings and private sector companies/organizations, which have their offices in four or more States/Union territories. The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two. This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT. After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.

Hence option(a) is correct.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has clarified that excess Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure prior to FY21 cannot be set off against future CSR expenditure requirements and that corporate donations to government schemes cannot be counted as CSR.

What is the clarification on setting off of excess CSR expenditure?

Companies with a minimum net worth of Rs 500 crore, turnover of Rs 1,000 crore, or net profit of Rs 5 crore are required to spend at least 2 per cent of their average profit for the previous three years on CSR activities every year. The ministry has clarified that any CSR expenditure in excess of the mandated 2 per cent expenditure can be set off against mandatory CSR expenditure in the three subsequent fiscals. Notably however, excess expenditure prior to FY21 is not eligible to be set off against future CSR requirements. The government had in May notified that donations made to the PM CARES fund on March 31, 2020 in excess of CSR requirements could be set off against CSR expenditure requirements for FY21.