Daily Current Affairs MCQ - December 18, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The third India-Central Asia Dialogue will begin on Dec 18, 2021 in New Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host the 3-day Dialogue.

• The Ministers are expected to discuss further strengthening of relations between India and Central Asian countries with particular focus on trade, connectivity and development cooperation.
• The second meeting was organised by India in October last year via video conferencing.
• There has been an ongoing engagement between India and the five Central Asian countries over the last few years. India considers Central Asia as part of its extended neighbourhood.

Central Asia is a region in Asia which stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north, including the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Environmentalists have expressed concern over amendments to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 on the grounds that it prioritises intellectual property and commercial trade at the expense of the Act’s key aim of conserving biological resources.

• Amendments to the Act were introduced as a Bill in the Lok Sabha by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav. The amended Bill was drafted in response to complaints by traditional Indian medicine practitioners, seed sector, and industry and researchers.
• The bill was enacted for conservation of biological diversity and ensure fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources with indigenous and local communities, imposed a heavy “compliance burden” and made it hard to conduct collaborative research and investments and simplify patent application processes.
• The text of the Bill also says that it proposes to “widen the scope of levying access and benefit sharing with local communities and for further conservation of biological resources.”
• The Bill seeks to exempt registered AYUSH medical practitioners and people accessing codified traditional knowledge, among others, from giving prior intimation to State biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources for certain purposes.

Arguments against

• A statement from the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE) said the Bill would “undo all the efforts made in the last few years to implement the Biological Diversity Act.”
• There was not a “single provision in the proposed amendment to protect, conserve or increase the stake of local communities in the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.”
• LIFE said the amendments were done to “solely benefit” the AYUSH Ministry. The Bill in the current form would pave the way for “bio piracy” and would mean AYUSH manufacturing companies would no longer need to take approvals and thus defeat the purpose for which the Act was created in the first place.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The World Health Organisation said it had granted emergency approval to the India-manufactured coronavirus vaccine Covovax.

• The jab, produced by the Serum Institute of India under licence from the U.S.-based Novavax, will now be distributed as part of global vaccine-sharing system Covax, “giving a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate more people in lower income countries”.
• This listing aims to increase access, particularly in lower income countries, 41 of which have still not been able to vaccinate 10% of their populations, while 98 countries have not reached 40%.”
• Covovax requires two doses and is stable at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius refrigerated temperatures.
• Hence both statements are correct.

• Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji, was born on December 10^th in 1878.
  • He became the chairperson of the municipality of Salem in 1917 and served there for two years.
  • In 1955, he was honoured with India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.
  • He died on 25^th December, 1972.
• Role in Freedom Struggle:
  • Non-Cooperation Movement: He met Mahatma Gandhi for the first time in 1919 in Madras (now Chennai) and participated in Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
    • He was also jailed for two years in Vellore in 1920.
    • After his release, he opened his own ashram to promote Gandhi’s principles of Hindu-Muslim harmony and the abolition of untouchability.
    • He was also a proponent of khadi.
  • Dandi March: When Gandhi led the Dandi March to break the salt law in 1930, Rajagopalachari carried out a similar march at Vedaranyam in the Madras Presidency. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
    • He also became the editor of Gandhi’s newspaper, Young India.
  • Quit India Movement: During the Quit India Movement, Rajagopalachari opposed Gandhi.
    • He was of the view that the British were going to leave the country eventually, so launching another Satyagraha was not a good decision. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• In 1947, during the absence of Lord Mountbatten, the last British viceroy and independent India’s first Governor General, Rajagopalachari was temporarily chosen to hold the office. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

Brasilia Declaration (2015)

• The declaration was signed at the second Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety held in Brazil. India is a signatory to the Declaration. Hence, statement 1 is not correct but statement 2 is correct.
• The countries plan to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 3.6 i.e. to half the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2030.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the Monetary Policy Report (MPR) for the month of December 2021.
  • The MPR is published by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of RBI.
• The MPC is a statutory and institutionalized framework under the RBI Act, 1934, for maintaining price stability, while keeping in mind the objective of growth. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The MPC determines the policy interest rate (repo rate) required to achieve the inflation target (4%) with a leeway of 2% points on either side.
• The Governor of RBI is ex-officio Chairman of the MPC. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

The Joint Committee of Parliament (JCP) on the Personal Data Protection Bill tabled its report in both Houses.

Major recommendations:

• Non-Personal Too: The key recommendations that changes the nature of the Bill itself is for inclusion of non-personal data within the larger umbrella. This means that all issues under the new legislation will be dealt with by a single Data Protection Authority (DPA) instead of separate ones for personal and non-personal.
• Transition Period: To ensure that all such data aggregators get ample time to comply with the rules under the new Bill, the JCP suggested that up to 24 months be given from the date of notification of the Act.
• Social Media Liability: A third major recommendation is that social media platforms that do not act as intermediaries should be treated as publishers, and therefore be held liable for the content they host.
• Penalty: The committee has recommended a fine of up to Rs 15 crore or 4% of the total global turnover of the firm for data breaches, and a jail term of up to 3 years if de-identified data is re-identified.
• Timely Alert: In case of any data breach, the data aggregator or fiduciary must notify the DPA within 72 hours of becoming aware of it.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a cold wave in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh over the next few days.

• The IMD records a cold wave when the minimum temperature is equal to or less than 10 degree Celsius at a weather station in the plains, and is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees below the normal temperature for that period.
• A cold wave may also be recorded at a station in the plains when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 4 degree Celsius.
• For hilly regions, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 0 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature is 4.5 degrees to 6.4 degrees below the normal.
• The ‘normal’ temperature is calculated for every five days by taking the average temperature for these days over the past 30 years.

What is the cause of this cold wave?

• A western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation lies over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu and Kashmir. Western disturbances are storms that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring winter rainfall to northwest India.
• After this western disturbance moves, there is a brief gap. The next western disturbance will set in only on December 22 night.
• In this gap of five to six days, the IMD expects strong northwesterly and westerly cold winds over north India. “We did not have this wind pattern earlier. Winds were calm and light all through November. We need consistent winds to bring a fall in temperature.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology felicitated the winners of the ‘Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge – Innovate Solutions for #AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ during AzadiKa Digital Mahotsav celebrations.

• On August 18, 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)launched the “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” as part of their series of proactive, pre-emptive and graded measures taken to spur the technology led innovation ecosystem in the country and staying at the forefront of digital adoption.
• Open to students at all levels and start-ups, the Challenge demanded contestants to tinker with the Swadeshi Processor IPs (VEGA processor by C-DAC & SHAKTI processor by IIT Madras) and facilitate them with innovating the frugal solutions for societal needs.
• Financial support to the tune of Rs. 4.40 Crore was provided at various stages of the Challenge for developing the hardware prototype and incubating a start-up to participating teams.
• The 1st Prize Winner of Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge is Team- Vega-FCS-FT who used VEGA processor to demonstrate - Fault Tolerant Reliable Integrated Avionics System for Drones.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Waste-wise Cities: Best practices in municipal solid waste management – a comprehensive knowledge repository of how Indian cities are managing their solid waste – was released on 6th December by NITI Aayog along with Sunita Narain, director general, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

• India's solid waste management sector has witnessed unparalleled growth in last few years.
• The Swachh Bharat Mission Phase 2 is launched to further strengthen the efforts for a clean India.
• The report, titled “Waste-Wise Cities: Best Practices in Municipal Solid Waste Management”, documents best practices from 28 cities in 15 states of India.
• The new report is the result of a country-wide study and survey jointly conducted by NITI Aayog and CSE. NITI Aayog and CSE will jointly host workshops to disseminate the learning with cities across the nation.
• The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) 2.0, launched on September 1, 2021, is now based on a clear strategy for solid waste management in cities – a strategy that focuses source segregation, material reprocessing, and zero-landfills.
• This change needs to be recognised and disseminated so that waste does not add to contamination and become a public health menace. Waste should become a resource to be reworked, reused, and up cycled.
• Hence both statements are correct.