Daily Current Affairs MCQ - December 30, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Meghalaya State Assembly Speaker visited Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Secretariat in Itanagar to get first-hand information about the National e-Vidhan project implemented in the Assembly.

• e-Vidhan is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) included in Digital India Programme and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for its implementation in all the States/ UTs with Legislatures.
• Funding of NeVA is on the pattern of Central Sponsored Scheme i.e. 60:40; and 90:10 for North East & hilly States and 100% for UTs.
• The funding for e-Vidhan is provided by the MoPA and technical support by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Objectives

• Paperless Assembly or e-Assembly is a concept involving of electronic means to facilitate the work of Assembly. It enables automation of entire law making process, tracking of decisions and documents, sharing of information.
• NeVA aims to bring all the legislatures of the country together, in one platform thereby creating a massive data depository without having the complexity of multiple applications.
• Further, live webcasting of Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TVs is also available on this application. Doordarshan has already been enabled with provision to incorporate similar facility in respect of State Legislatures.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In his Mann Ki Baat address on January 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the popularity of Yoga in Chile and appreciated the Latin American nation’s love for Indian culture.

• In Chile, the 4th of November has been declared as National Yoga Day.
• On 4th of November 1962, the first Yoga institution in Chile was established by José Rafael Estrada.
• Estrada, originally from Mexico, is credited for bringing Yoga to Chile. T
• He also mentioned that the name of the Vice President of the Chilean Senate is Rabindranath Quinteros.
• He has been so named, inspired by Vishwa Kavi Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.

On 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The UK is opening a special visa scheme that will allow lakhs of Hong Kong residents a chance to migrate and eventually apply for British citizenship.

• The visas will be issued to those in Hong Kong who hold a British National (Overseas) passport and their immediate dependents, and will offer a fast track to UK citizenship.
• Applicants who get the visa can live and work in the UK for 5 years, after which they apply for settlement. Twelve months after this, they can apply for citizenship.
• The move is considered the UK’s most generous welcoming of foreign workers since the entry of new EU citizens in 2004 — when 10 countries were added to the bloc– at a time when the UK was also a member.
• The move comes months after China imposed a sweeping national security law over the former British colony, taking aim at pro-democracy protests that had captured global attention since 2019.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

• A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which forms over tropical or subtropical waters. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• A cyclone is a rotating low-pressure weather system.
• They are usually formed near the equator over the warm ocean water between 5 and 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. Hence, statement 2 correct.

• Article 120 (Language to be used in Parliament) provides for use of Hindi or English for transactions of parliament but gives the right to members of parliament to express themselves in their mother tongue. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Article XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The Eighth Schedule recognises following 22 languages as official languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
  • English is not part of languages under Eighth schedule. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

• Coral reefs are large underwater structures composed of the skeletons of colonial marine invertebrates called coral.
• Corals extract calcium carbonate from seawater to create a hard, durable exoskeleton that protects their soft, sac-like bodies. These exoskeleton remains of millions of corals pile up with time to form coral reefs. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The corals have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae called zooxanthellae.
  • These algae live inside the coral polyp's body and provide the coral with food. The polyps, in turn, provide a home and carbon dioxide for the algae.
  • These algae are responsible for the variety of colours of corals. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Union Budget 2021-22 proposes Qualitative Strengthening of 15,000 Schools to include all components of National Education Policy.

• Also, 100 new Sainik Schools will be setup in partnership with NGOs/private schools/states.
• It is proposed to set up a Higher Education Commission of India as an umbrella body having 4 separate vehicles for standard setting, accreditation, regulation, and funding.
• It is also proposed to set up a Central University in Leh for accessible higher education in Ladakh.
• Hence both statements are correct.

To strengthen the overall research ecosystem of the country, the Union Budget FY 2021-22 announced a slew of new initiatives to boost Innovation and R&D in the country .

• The Finance Minister proposed an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore, spread over five years, for National Research Foundation.
• Rs 1,500 crore has been proposed for a scheme that will provide financial incentive to promote digital modes of payment and further boost digital transactions.
• A new initiative called National Language Translation Mission (NTLM) has been proposed that will digitise the wealth of governance-and-policy related knowledge on the Internet and be made available in major Indian languages.
• New Space India Limited (NSIL), a PSU under the Department of Space, will execute the PSLV-CS51 launch, carrying the Amazonia Satellite from Brazil, along with a few smaller Indian satellites.
• Four Indian astronauts are also being trained on Generic Space Flight aspects, in Russia for the Gaganyaan Mission, slated to be launched for December 2021.
• To better understand the realm of Oceans Smt. Sitharaman proposed to launch a Deep Ocean Mission with a budget outlay of more than Rs 4,000 crores, over five years.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget 2020-21 announced key initiatives in the Petroleum & Natural Gas Sector.

• Ujjwala Scheme, which has already benefitted 8 crore households, will be extended to cover 1 crore more beneficiaries.
• 100 more districts will be being added to the City Gas Distribution Network in the next three years.
• A Gas pipeline project will be taken up in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• An Independent Gas Transport System Operator will be set up for facilitation and coordination of booking of common carrier capacity in all-natural gas pipelines on a non-discriminatory open access basis.
• Hence both statements are correct.

During the budget 2021-22, Union Minister for Finance announced that the Government will consolidate the provisions of SEBI Act, 1992, Depositories Act, 1996, Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 and Government Securities Act, 2007 into a rationalised single Securities Markets Code.

• The Government will support the development of a world class Fin-Tech hub at the GIFT-IFSC.
• In order to instill confidence amongst the participants in the Corporate Bond Market during times of stress and to generally enhance secondary market liquidity, Union Budget 2021-22 proposes to create a permanent institutional framework.
• With an objective to provide protection to the investors, the Finance Minister proposed to introduce an investor charter as a right of all financial investors across all financial products.
• To establish a system of regulated gold exchanges in the country, SEBI will be notified as the regulator and Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority will be strengthened to set up a commodity market eco system arrangement.
• Hence both statements are correct.