Daily Current Affairs MCQ - December 9, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

• The Ministry of Environment and Forests of India set up in March 2010 an expert panel (Gadgil commission) to find a strategy for conserving these Ghats.
  • The Gadgil report, published in 2011 highlighted the ecological sensitivity of the Western Ghats and the need to protect the region by restricting activities there.
• The central government-appointed Kasturirangan committee had come up with a comprehensive report on the Western Ghats in 2013, proposing several measures that six states must take to protect the Western Ghats mountain range.
• T. S. R Subramanian Committee was constituted under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) in October,2015. The report proposes an Education Policy, which seeks to address challenges faced by the current education system.
• Hence, option A is correct.

• The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was constituted by the Government of India in 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • It is the apex coordinating agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is based on Article 47 of the Indian Constitution which directs the State to endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drugs injurious to health. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • Drug abuse control is the responsibility of the central government.

About World Inequality Report 2022

• The report was released by the World Inequality Lab, which aims to promote research on global inequality dynamics. Hence, option A is correct.
• This report presents the most up-to-date synthesis of international research efforts to track global inequalities.
• The poorest half of the global population “barely owns any wealth” possessing just 2% of the total, whereas the richest 10% of the global population own 76% of all wealth.
• India stands out as a poor and very unequal country. The top 1% of the population hold more than one-fifth of the total national income in 2021 and the bottom half just 13%.

The coastal ecosystems of mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows provide numerous benefits and services that are essential for climate change adaptation along coasts globally, including protection from storms and sea level rise, prevention of shoreline erosion, regulation of coastal water quality, provision of habitat for commercially important fisheries and endangered marine species, and food security for many coastal communities. Additionally, these ecosystems sequester and store significant amounts of coastal blue carbon from the atmosphere and ocean and hence are now recognized for their role in mitigating climate change.

In both Houses, elected members enjoy the right to seek information from various ministries and departments in the form of starred questions, unstarred questions, short notice questions and questions to private members.

The admissibility of questions in Rajya Sabha is governed by Rules 47-50 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States.

In Lok Sabha, the questions are examined for admissibility under Rules 41-44 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

In both Houses, the first hour of every sitting is usually devoted to asking and answering of questions, and this is referred to as the ‘Question Hour’.

The Rajya Sabha Chairman or the Lok Sabha Speaker has the authority to decide whether a question or a part is or is not admissible under the norms of the House, and disallow any question or a part. Once disallowed, it is often difficult for members to challenge the decision.

In 2020, the Government of India created a new organisation known as IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) which is a “single window nodal agency” established to boost the commercialisation of Indian space activities. A supplement to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the agency promotes the entry of the Non-Government Private Entities (NGPEs) in the Indian space sector. The agency will also felicitate a swift on-boarding of private players in the sector through encouraging policies in a friendly regulatory environment and by creating synergies through already existing necessary facilities.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare have mandated "contactless self-declaration" at Air Suvidha Portal.

Arunachal Pradesh Police launched its CCTNS Cloud Data Centre, Citizen Services Portal and User Manual at state police headquarter in Itanagar.

Genesys International has launched its pan India program to make the Digital Twin of the entire Urban India. The launch programme was inaugurated by Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated development projects worth 10,000 crore rupees in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on 7 December 2021. The Prime Minister inaugurated the Fertiliser Plant, AIIMS and a new building of the regional centre of Indian Council of Medical Research.