Daily Current Affairs MCQ - December 1, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate InFinity Forum, a thought leadership Forum on FinTech, on 3rd December, 2021 at 10 AM via video conferencing.

• The event is being hosted by International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), under the aegis of Government of India in collaboration with GIFT City and Bloomberg on December 3 and 4, 2021.
• Indonesia, South Africa and the U.K. are partner countries in the first edition of the Forum.
• InFinity Forum will bring together the leading minds of the world in policy, business, and technology to discuss and come up with actionable insight into how technology and innovation can be leveraged by the FinTech industry for inclusive growth and serving humanity at large.
• The agenda of the Forum will focus on the theme of 'Beyond'; with various sub themes including FinTech beyond boundaries, FinTech beyond Finance and FinTech Beyond Next.
• The forum will witness participation from over 70 countries.

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar Gujarat, has been established under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It works as a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India. At present, the GIFT IFSC is the maiden international financial services centre in India.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Fifth generation telecom services are likely to account for 39% of mobile subscriptions or about 500 million subscriptions in India at the end of 2027, according to a report by Ericsson.

• The ‘Ericsson Mobility Report’ added that the total number of smartphone subscriptions is expected to be 810 million at the end of 2021 and is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 7%, exceeding 1.2 billion by 2027.
• Smartphone subscriptions accounted for 70% of total mobile subscriptions in 2021 and are projected to constitute around 94% in 2027, driven by rapid smartphone adoption in the country, it said, adding that 4G is expected to remain the dominant technology in India in 2027.
• However, 4G subscriptions are forecast to drop from 790 million in 2021 to 710 million in 2027, showing an annual average decline of 2%. Thus, 4G subscriptions are expected to reduce from 68% of mobile subscriptions in 2021 to 55% in 2027 as subscribers migrate to 5G.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Indian Army’s ambitious plan for modernisation of the Army Base Workshops (ABWs) and implementation of ‘Government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO)’ model is “delayed” and the original timeline for implementing the system lapsed in December 2019, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in its report tabled in the Parliament.

Government Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) model is for Army base workshops and ordnance depots intended to improve operational efficiency. The GOCO model was one of the recommendations of the Lt. Gen. DB Shekatkar (Retd.) committee to “enhance combat capability and re-balancing defence expenditure.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Supreme Court said it will pass orders to allow the setting up of a medical board of AIIMS doctors to help the Justice A. Arumughaswamy Commission of Inquiry gather the facts on the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at Apollo Hospital in Chennai in 2016.

• A Bench of Justices S. Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari said it would permit Apollo Hospital to apply to the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) for “relevant” documents and examine “relevant” witnesses.
• The Bench said the directions of the High Court with regard to the CoI sticking to the ambit of its jurisdiction and following procedure would stand.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.4% in the July to September quarter, compared to a 7.4% contraction a year ago, with the economy’s gross value added (GVA) rising 8.5%, the National Statistical Office said.

• Factoring in the first quarter GDP growth of 20.1%, the first half of this year has recorded 13.7% growth and India is likely to record double digit growth for 2021-22 as a whole, the Finance Ministry’s Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy Subramanian said.
• Economists, however, were not fully convinced about the extent and durability of this recovery and reacted with caution.
• Though the absolute GDP in the second quarter (Q2) was 0.3% higher than pre-pandemic levels, there were still many worrying areas.
• In particular the insipid private consumption spending that still languished below pre-COVID levels along with activity in employment-intensive sectors like construction and contact-intensive sectors like retail and hotels.
• The base effect of negative growth last year also helped nudge the GDP numbers up, most independent economists say, although the CEA said the base effect by itself does not make the recovery ‘less noteworthy’.

Public Administration, Defence & Other Services recorded the highest GVA growth among different segments of the economy at 17.4%, followed by Mining and Quarrying that grew 15.4% and Electricity, Gas, Water Supply & Other Utility Services that rose 8.9%.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Music maestro "AR Rahman" was given a special tribute at the 43rd "Cairo International Film Festival" (CIFF) for his contribution in the field of music.

Uttar Pradesh has been picked as the most friendly state for film shooting at the 52nd International Film Festival of India held in Goa. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur and Goa's Chief Minister Pramod Sawant handed over the award to Uttar Pradesh on the conclusion of the festival.

A week-long "Azadi Ka Digital Mahotsav" was inaugurated by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment appointed a three-member committee to revisit the criteria for 10% reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in educational institutions and Government jobs, after a rap from the Supreme Court in November.

The 10% EWS quota was introduced under the 103rd Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The contribution of stubble burning in neighbouring States to the daily levels of PM2.5 – a chief pollutant – in Delhi was as high as 48% on November 7 and averaged 33.5% during the week after Deepavali (November 5-11).

• This is the same period when air pollution spiked in the Capital, National Capital Region and several other north Indian States.
• The average contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM2.5 level in November was 14.6%, according to data from the government-run monitoring agency SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research).
• The highest contribution of stubble burning to PM2.5 in Delhi for a day was 58% in 2018, 43% in 2019, and 46% in 2020, said Gufran Beig, founder project director of SAFAR.
• After initial confusion on November 15, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central Government, had told the Supreme Court on November 17 that the contribution of farm fires to Delhi’s PM2.5 count was about 35% to 40% in October and November.
• The annual contribution is usually far lesser since the burning of stubble is only a seasonal activity and not all year round.
• Delhi usually experiences two spells of high air pollution during winter, one in October-November and the other in December-January.
• During October-November, one of the main reasons for the high pollution in Delhi and NCR is stubble burning. During the second spell, the main reason for air pollution is the transport of pollutants from the rest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain to Delhi combined with extreme cold and foggy conditions.
• Hence both statements are correct.