Daily Current Affairs MCQ - Feb 24, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

As part of the ongoing farmers’ protest, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) is celebrating February 23 as ‘Pagri Sambhal Diwas’, where it has asked supporters across the globe to wear a green pagri/dupatta and post their pictures on social media, with the hashtag ‘Go green for farmers’.

• The farmers are also honouring the memory of Ajit Singh, uncle of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and founder of the Pagri Sambhaal movement of 1907.

• Pagrhi Sambhaal Jatta was a successful farm agitation that forced the British Government to repeal three laws related to agriculture back in 1907. Bhagat Singh’s uncle Ajit Singh was the force behind this agitation, and he wanted to channel people’s anger over the farm laws to topple the colonial Government.

• The three farm-related acts at the centre of the storm in 1907 were the Punjab Land Alienation Act 1900, the Punjab Land Colonisation Act 1906 and the Doab Bari Act.

• These acts would reduce farmers from owners to contractors of land, and gave the British Government the right to take back the allotted land if the farmer even touched a tree in his field without permission.

Over the last few days, Trinamool Congress as well as BJP leaders across the West Bengal ahead of the Assembly polls, have been raising the ‘Khela hobe’ slogan.

• The slogan was first used by Bangladesh’s Awami League MP Shamim Osman more than four years ago.

• But it was popularised in West Bengal by Trinamool Congress president of Birbhum district, Anubrata Mondal, who at a local political event said, “Khela hobe. Bhoyonkor Khela hobe. Ei mati te Khela hobe.” (The game is on. It will be a dangerous game. But the game is on and this will be the playground.)

• The slogan, through which leaders are challenging their opponents now, likens the political battlefield to a playground. It means this electoral battle has not been decided yet — there is a lot to fight for in these Assembly polls and only time will tell who has the last laugh.

NITI Aayog has prepared a draft national migrant labour policy.

• The draft describes two approaches to policy design:

  • one focussed on cash transfers, special quotas, and reservations;

  • the other which “enhances the agency and capability of the community and thereby remove aspects that come in the way of an individual’s own natural ability to thrive”.The policy rejects a handout approach, opting instead for a rights-based framework.

• The draft asks the Ministries of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, and Housing and Urban Affairs to use Tribal Affairs migration data to help create migration resource centres in high migration zones.

• It asks the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to focus on skill-building at these centres.

• The Ministry of Education should take measures under the Right to Education Act to mainstream migrant children’s education, to map migrant children, and to provide local-language teachers in migrant destinations.

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs should address issues of night shelters, short-stay homes, and seasonal accommodation for migrants in cities.

• The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and the Ministry of Labour should set up grievance handling cells and fast track legal responses for trafficking, minimum wage violations, and workplace abuses and accidents for migrant workers.

Scientists have found a new Lead (Pb) free material which can efficiently convert waste heat to power our small home equipment and automobiles.

• Most efficient thermoelectric materials developed by scientists so far use Lead (Pb) as a major constituent element, restricting their use for mass-market applications.

• Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of having now identified a lead-free material called Cadmium (Cd) doped Silver Antimony Telluride (AgSbTe2).

• This material can efficiently allow recovery of electricity fromwaste heat’ marking a paradigm shift in the thermoelectric puzzle.

• This work is supported by the Swarna-Jayanti fellowship and project fund from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and Department of Science & Technology (DST), India

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched the SmartCode Platform.

• SmartCode is a platform that enables all ecosystem stakeholders to contribute to a repository of open-source code for various solutions and applications for urban governance.

• It is designed to address the challenges that urban local bodies (ULBs) face in the development and deployment of digital applications to address urban challenges, by enabling cities to take advantage of existing codes and customising them to suit local needs, rather than having to develop new solutions from scratch.

• As a repository of open-source software, the source code available on the platform will be free to use without any licensing or subscription fees, thus limiting costs to those involved with customising the code and developing a locally-relevant solution.

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri launched India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX).

• The India Urban Data Exchange has been developed in partnership between the Smart Cities Mission and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

• IUDX serves as a seamless interface for data providers and data users, including ULBs, to share, request, and access datasets related to cities, urban governance, and urban service delivery.

• IUDX is an open-source software platform that facilitates the secure, authenticated, and managed exchange of data amongst various data platforms, 3rd party authenticated and authorised applications, and other sources.

The National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) has been launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs along with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

• The National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM) will create a shared digital infrastructure for urban India, working across the three pillars of people, process, and platform to provide holistic support to cities and towns.

• It will institutionalise a citizen-centric and ecosystem-driven approach to urban governance and service delivery in 2022 cities 2022, and across all cities and towns in India by 2024.

• NUDM has articulated a set of governing principles and inherits the technology design principles of the National Urban Innovation Stack (NUIS), whose strategy and approach was released by MoHUA in February 2019.

• The principles in turn give rise to standards, specifications, and certifications, across the three pillars of people, process, and platforms.

Union Minister of Chemicals & Fertilizers presented the 10th National Awards for Technology Innovation in Petrochemicals & Downstream Plastics Processing Industry to the Awardees.

• In line with the National Policy on Petrochemicals announced in April 2007, the Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals (DCPC), Government of India has set up an Award Scheme to incentivize meritorious innovations and inventions in the field of polymeric materials, products, process areas of national and social importance.

• The ultimate objective is to develop and maintain the petrochemical industry as a globally competitive industry using eco-friendly processes & technologies.

Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET), an autonomous organization under DCPC has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the scheme of the National Awards for Technology Innovation.

The 22nd Meeting of the Central Employment Guarantee Council was held on 23.02.2021 under the Chairmanship of Union Minister of Rural Development.

• The Central Employment Guarantee Council has been constituted under Section 10 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA), 2005.

• In this current financial year 2020-21 under the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic, Mahatma Gandhi NREGS has played its critical role in providing wage employment to the wage seekers.

• A total of 344 crore person-days employment has been generated so far, which is the highest ever person-days generated so far and around 44% higher than that of last year during the same period.

• 1.69 crore new job cards were issued this year as compared to usual about 69 lacs in previous years reflecting the succor it provided to the migrant workers going back to their villages.

In a first of its kind the Union Public Service Commission UPSC has opened a new centre for the Civil Services Examination, in Leh for the candidates from Union Territory Ladakh.

• Sanctioning of a new centre for Civil Services examination in Leh is a great relief for the aspiring candidates. Leh will be the 73rd centre in the country to hold the preliminary exam for Civil Services on 27th of June this year.

• Leh Deputy Commissioner will be the Coordinating Supervisor for the Leh centre. At least 800 candidates are expected to attend the civils preliminary exam from the Union Territory Ladakh.

Leh is the 2nd largest district of India