Daily Current Affairs MCQ - August 5, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Germany became the 5th country to sign International Solar Alliance Framework Agreement after amendments to it entered into force on 8th January 2021, opening its Membership to all Member States of the United Nations.

• Membership to the ISA was earlier limited to 121 countries, which were partially or entirely located within the tropics. This didn’t allow major solar energy economies such as Germany to join the alliance that is being increasingly seen as a foreign policy tool.
• The initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the India Africa Summit, and a meeting of member countries ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015. The framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance opened for signatures in Marrakech, Morocco in November 2016.
• The ISA is headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by Rajya Sabha.

The Bill seeks to amend the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008 and provides for the following:

• To introduce the concept of “small limited liability partnership” in line with the concept of “small company” under the Companies Act, 2013;
• To amend certain sections of the Act so as to convert offences into civil defaults and to convert the nature of punishment provided in the said sections from fines to monetary penalties;
• To insert a new section 34A so as to empower the Central Government to prescribe the “Accounting Standards” or “Auditing Standards” for a class or classes of limited liability partnerships;
• To amend section 39 of the Act relating to “compounding of offences” so as to authorise the Regional Director to compound any offence under this Act which is punishable with fine only;
• To insert a new section 67A empowering the Central Government to establish or designate as many “Special Courts” as may be necessary for the purpose of providing speedy trial of offences under the Act;
• To amend section 72 of the Act so as to provide more clarity in the provisions when any person aggrieved by an order of “Tribunal” prefers an appeal to the “Appellate Tribunal”;
• To insert a new section 76A so as to provide that the Central Government may appoint as many officers as Adjudicating Officers as it thinks necessary for the purpose of adjudicating penalties under the Act.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved continuation of the revised Samagra Shiksha Scheme for a period of five years i.e., from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total financial outlay of Rs.2,94,283.04 crore which includes Central share of Rs.1,85,398.32 crore.

• The Centre plans to pay students their Right to Education (RTE) entitlements in the form of cash transfers as part of a revamp.
• The Samagra Shiksha scheme is an integrated scheme for school education covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme covers 11.6 lakh government and aided schools with over 15 crore students and 57 lakh teachers.
• It involves a 60:40 split in funding between the Centre and most States.
• The major interventions proposed under the scheme are: (i) Universal Access including Infrastructure Development and Retention; (ii) Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, (iii) Digital initiatives; (iv) Vocational Education; (v) Sports and Physical Education; (vi) Strengthening of Teacher Education and Training etc.
• The Scheme is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme through a single State Implementation Society (SIS) at the State level.
• At the National level, there is a Governing Council/Body headed by the Minister of Education and a Project Approval Board (PAB) headed by Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of 1023 Fast Track Special Court (FTSCs) including 389 exclusive POCSO Courts as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2023 with an outlay of Rs. 1572.86 crore (Rs.971.70 crore as Central Share and Rs.601.16 crore as State share).

• Central Share is to be funded from Nirbhaya Fund.
• The Scheme was launched on 02.10.2019.
• To bring more stringent provisions and expeditious trial and disposal of such cases, the Central Government enacted "The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018" and made provision of stringent punishment including death penalty for perpetrators of rape. This led to the establishment of the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs).
• Fast Track Special Courts are dedicated courts expected to ensure swift dispensation of justice. They have a better clearance rate as compared to the regular courts and hold speedy trials.
• Besides providing quick justice to the hapless victims, it strengthens the deterrence framework for sexual offenders.
• Hence both statements are correct.

With the passage in Rajya Sabha, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2021 got approval of both houses of Parliament. Earlier, on July 29, the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha.

• It seeks to amend the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008. The 2008 Act established the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
• AERA regulates tariffs and other charges (such as airport development fees) for aeronautical services rendered at major airports in India.
• Major airports: The 2008 Act designates an airport as a major airport if it has an annual passenger traffic of at least 35 lakh. The central government may also designate any airport as a major airport by a notification. The Bill adds that the central government may group airports and notify the group as a major airport.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is the most powerful technique for determining the structure of organic compounds. NMR techniques are used successfully in various food systems for quality control and research.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said the investigation found that the honey sold by 10 out of 13 brands in Indian markets are adulterated with sugar syrup. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) tests managed to expose the adulteration.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.

The Parties (57 founding members) to agreement comprise the Membership of the Bank.

• It is headquartered in Beijing.
• It commenced operations in January 2016.

Aim:

By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors today, it aims to connect people, services and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.

Membership:

• There are more than 100 members now.
• Fourteen of the G-20 nations are AIIB members including France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Voting Rights:

• China is the largest shareholder with 26.61 % voting shares in the bank followed by India (7.6%), Russia (6.01%) and Germany (4.2 %).

The regional members hold 75% of the total voting power in the Bank.

The Golden Crescent is the name given to one of Asia’s two principal areas of illicit opium production (with the other being the Golden Triangle), located at the crossroads of Central, South, and Western Asia. This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.

The Golden Triangle is the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.

Currently, in an unlikely event of a bank failing in India, a depositor has a claim to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh per account as insurance cover. The cover of Rs 5 lakh per depositor is provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), which is a fully owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India. Depositors having more than Rs 5 lakh in their account have no legal recourse to recover funds in case a bank collapses.

Deposits in public and private sector banks, local area banks, small finance banks, regional rural banks, cooperative banks, Indian branches of foreign banks and payments banks are all insured by the DICGC. The premium for this insurance is paid by banks to the DICGC, and not be passed on to depositors.

Amnesty International is a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights.

• The stated objective of the organisation is “to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.”
• The organisation was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its “campaign against torture,” and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978.
• In the field of international human rights organisations, Amnesty has the second longest history, after the International Federation for Human Rights and broadest name recognition.